I where, mid that neglect Still obtains 

 ,i tunes, as manifest in some degree 

 in the large and important Wtv Pit 

 ianno "t published in England 



n 1&64). 



However, the chief point to be 

 Miked in the tool-using record of 

 |19 is that it says the raiding Egyp- 



. \m Vulture 'carries a stone into the 

 lil and drops it upon I he eggs 1 ', This 

 ti-elinicjuc dillers from Ihe method 

 , nhed by the l.awick-Cioudulls 

 trim lan/.ama m |Hf»6-69. l-ach Vul- 

 iiiv which l he>- watched (and finely 

 ■■■holographed) held a stone in its 

 t .ik while standing on the ground 



|.m1 either threw it at the Ostrich 

 •^s or used it as a hammer. 

 Ihe suggestion arises, therefore, 



I 'hut stone-throwing on the Vulture s 

 Uri las distinct from stane-tlr<>ppin<<) 

 uav he a relatively rceenl develop- 

 jSeni, or, in the alternative. Vultures 

 dillcrenl parts ot Africa may Use 

 'liferent techniques, 'lite same con- 

 udcration arises in regard to Ans- 

 r„| a s Black-breasted Buzzard, which, 

 wording to reports, may either stand 

 oade linns' eggs while smashing 

 ton or drop stones on them from 

 Jofl 



feitlts *■> •Krusl.is" 



lollowing the principle lh.it aft 

 bitvt used h\ .. bird lot • special 

 md practical purpose lolhet than 

 •est-eonMniciion i may he classed as 

 . tool, perhaps a cumnis practice, 

 vfwlv repotted, on the part of an 

 \mencan nuthatch entitles thai MtVl) 

 nt. I 16 tank as a tool-user. 



ftThing ill the Auk I"' January 

 1*71, Lawrence Kilhan. a medical 

 uerohiolojiist ol Hanover in New 

 Hampshire, stales that the White 

 ••-cased Nuthatch (Virtu Kimlinotsn) 

 ainsislenlly captures a CCrtotlJ bIifl|U 

 tale — one thut exudes i copious. 

 <ilv. vesicant tluid and nibs each 

 (rushetl body around the entrance »o 



December, 1971 



iLs nest in the hollow of a tree, 

 l engthy observation, Kilhan says, has 

 convinced him that the beetles arc 

 not eaten, hut are deliberately applied 

 in the bark near Ihe nest-hollow, in 

 a hill sweeping operation, so that 

 their distasteful exudation may deier 

 UUititfS from commandeering the 

 sire. 



This report — what its author terms 

 his tinai hypothesis" on a matter 

 thai has long puzzled him — mav be 

 regarded with some duhiety. Ii may 

 appear to credit the lillle bird with 

 undue "foresight"'. Reflection sug- 

 gest-., hvweser. ihal the use of pungent 

 beetles as a rvpellant has some 

 affinity With the practice of anting: 

 that is. the practice of man} birds 

 of rubhing ants ami other strong sub- 

 M.iuces (includinu beetles at times I 

 beneath their wings and under the 

 tails. Ihe ultimate purposes in the 

 two cases dtlfer. or course, mil there 

 is similarity in the birds' appreciation 

 of the ellecls of contact with acidu- 

 lous jathsiauees. 



Moreover, with scepticism in mind 

 it ma\ be well 10 leeall that when, 

 in W4-.*x I published in the Mel- 

 bourne Argun basic reports on the 

 remarkable practice Ihal was to 

 hecome known as ••ntuittj; ". several 

 nniurnhsts Hally rejected the evidence: 

 and vci. since that time, writers in 

 many countries have published scores 

 of observation- and discussions on the 

 suhieel 



( le.,. iv enough, discretion needs to 

 Iv tempered wtlh ricxihililv when 

 cs>n,idei..tivil is being )|tven to 

 rero-iv ol cxli joidmaix behaviour on 

 the pari ol buds. 



Kl I I Rl vi I s 



r i, i, holm. A II Ihe Histuty ot Am 

 ing" / mo, fS, pp. 101-30. May. w?. 



Kilti.in. I Tsc of blister beetle in bill 

 wvpepinc t'v Whitc-hrcastcd Nut 

 hatch". Auh.Bi, p. 175. Jan. 1971. 



343 



