BIRDS — GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 
321 
A pheasant used to come very boldly and run off with large 
pieces of food, which he could only divide by shaking, and he 
was closely watched by the rooks for the pieces that flew out of 
his reach. He learned to run off into the shrubs, followed by 
the rooks, who pulled his tail to make him drop his food. 
I shall next quote a highly interesting observation 
which seems to have been well made, and which displays 
remarkable intelligence on the part of the birds described. 
These are Turnstones, which, as their name implies, turn 
over stones, &c., in order to obtain as food the sundry 
small creatures concealed beneath. In this case the ob- 
server was Edward. Being concealed in a hollow, and 
unnoticed by the birds, he saw a pair trying to turn over 
the body of a stranded cod-fish, three and a half feet long, 
and buried in the sand to a depth of several inches. He 
thus describes what he saw : — 
Having got fairly settled down in my pebbly observatory, I 
turned my undivided attention to the birds before me. They 
were boldly pushing at the fish with their bills, and then with 
their breasts. Their endeavours, however, were in vain : the 
object remained immovable. On this they both went round to 
the opposite side, and began to scrape away the sand from 
beneath the fish. After removing a considerable quantity, 
they again came back to the spot which they had left, and went 
once more to work with their bills and breasts, but with as 
little apparent success as formerly. Nothing daunted, however, 
they ran round a second time to the other side, and recommenced 
their trenching operations with a seeming determination not to 
be baffled in their object, which evidently was to undermine the 
dead animal before them, in order that it might be the more 
easily overturned. 
While they were thus employed, and after they had laboured 
in this manner at both sides alternately for nearly half an hour, 
they were joined by another of their own species, which came 
flying with rapidity from the neighbouring rocks. Its timely 
arrival was hailed with evident signs of joy. I was led to this 
conclusion from the gestures which they exhibited, and from a 
low but pleasant murmuring noise to which they gave utterance 
so soon as the new-comer made his appearance. Of their 
feelings he seemed to be perfectly aware, and he made his reply 
to them in a similar strain. Their mutual congratulations 
being over, they all three set to work; and after labouring 
