British Corridar. 
83 
in the Tyrol and parts of Switzerland. In its habits it some- 
what roscinblcs the Jay. It is 1>oautifnlly marked and spotted. 
Four wen sent to me fi'om the Tyi'ol, and, altlioujirli old-eaught, 
soon became tame and conliding'. They were easy enough to 
cater for. They really eared only for cooked meat, which they 
preferi'ed to pick oft" a bone, and any kind of nut (walinits for 
choice, as these were easy for them to break). They wedged 
them into any crevice they could find, and speedily split the 
shells with a few sharp taps with their beaks. I always 
cracked the shells of the harder nuts, such as filberts, cocoa- 
nuts, &c.. I have heard it stated that the Nutcracker cannot 
crack nuts, but if this sweeping statement includes walnuts it 
is wrong, without a doubt. These birds love walnuts and 
have no diflficulty in breaking them. 
Final Notes : All the birds I have described in this 
article make ideal pets, with marvellous intelligence. They 
soon learn to know their attendant and keep their special traits 
and mannerisms for that person. They welcome him with 
special attention, amusing and interesting him by their wonder- 
ful powers of mimicry of other birds, animals, and womenkind, 
and give aljundant proofs of affection in return for any labour 
or time bestowed upon them. It must be borne in mind by 
anyone desirous of rearing any of them by hand from the nest, 
that regularity in feeding is a sine qua non . A little food 
given frequently, at strictly stated intervals, is far better than 
stuffing them at longer periods. I owe my personal success 
in rearing them by hand to this rule. I begin at daybreak, 
and feed every two hours, increasing the interval at the end 
of a week, until they have learned to pick up for themselves. 
They object to do this, and much prefer the personal attention, 
but I circumvent these sly tricks by leaving the dish of food on 
the floor of their aviary, and the cunning rogues fall into the 
snare, and thinking they are quite unobserved, proceed to pick 
up. But they desist the moment I show myself and will drop 
what they have in the beak and clamour to be fed as of old. 
In every case it is vitally important that the birds are 
kept supplied with clean water in a large shallow pan, as they 
are all fond of bathing. They will splash about till they are 
soaked and then sit in the sun to dry. The moment this is 
nearly accomplished, in they go again for another bath! 
