

72° THE NATURAL HISTORY 
climbing the bark, or running up: walls, they 
fix, and fufpend themfelves in every pofiible 
form; fometimes with the head downwards, feeke 
ing for worms, infects, their larve, chryfalids, of 
eggs. ‘They feed too on fevered kinds of feeds, 
but inflead of breaking them like Linnets, and 
Goldfinches, between the mandibles of their beak, | 
they generally place them between their feet, and 
pierce them with the point of the bill. It ‘is cu 
rious to fee them feed in this manner upon hemp- 
feed; they will pierce the fhells of nuts and al- 
_monds, and if a nut be fufpended at the end ofa 
ftring, they will fx upon it, ftrike it with the bill 
and fuffer themfelves to vibrate with the fring, On 
without once looling their hold, or cealing (0 
peck the. nut. ‘ . 
The muicles of their neck are very froma 
and their fkulls are thick ; this explains in part 
their manceuvres, but to account for the whole, 
we mutt fuppofe that the mufcles of Hc legs ant 
fet are very firong. 
Towards the clofe of autumn, they frequent 
the neighbourhood of our habitations, feeding upol 
feeds, and the infe&ts which the cold of winté 
has deftroyed., They fearch too for the bodies o 
dead birds ; and if they find any alive, entangled 
in ae or weakened by difeafe, they take an ade 
Hcg Le : va 
ts 

