C. caryocatactes, Lin. &c.; Nucifraga caryocatactes, Temm.; Nut-cracker, or Sfiotted-Crow. Rusty brown, with triangular white spots; crown and wings blackish ; tail blackish, and tipt with white, and the middle feathers as if worn. Length of the body thirteen inches; extent of wing twenty-one inches ; and the general size about that of the magpie. To the latter and the jay, it is close ly related; but it is distinguished from both by the shape of the bill, which is straighter and blunter, and composed of two unequal pieces. Its instinct is also different ; for it prefers the residence of high mountains; and its disposi tion is not so much tinctured with cunning and suspicion. The iris is hazel ; the bill, feet, and nails, are black; the nostrils round, shaded with whitish feathers, which are straight, stiff, and projecting; the feathers in the wing and tail are blackish without spots, but, for the most part, only terminated with white. Besides the brilliancy of its plumage, the nut-cracker is remarkable for the triangular white spots which are spread over its whole body, and which are smaller on the upper part, and broader on the breast. There are, however, some diver sities in the different individuals, as well as in the differ ent descriptions, which seems to confirm the opinion of Klein, that there are two races or varieties; the one speck led like the stare, with a strong angular bill, and a long forked tongue; and the other of inferior size, with a more slender and round bill, and the tongue deeply divided, very short, and almost lost in the throat. Both live much en hazel nuts; but the former breaks, and the latter pierces them. They likewise feed on acorns, wild berries, the kernels of pine-tops, and even on insects It should see: that, when pressed by hunger, they likewise prey on small birds. They have the hoarding propensity of the raven, &c. concealing what they cannot consume. Their cry resembles that of the magpie. They nestle in the holes of trees, the female laying five or six eggs, of a fawn-grey, with thinly scattered spots of a clear grey-brown. As they haunt remote, and not very acces sible spots, we know little of their incubation, the train ing of their young, or the duration of their lives. When taken young, they are capable of being tamed ; but all attempts to domesticate the adults have, it is alleged, proved abortive, as they soon languish and die, in con sequence of the obstinate rejection of food.
This species inhabits many parts of Europe, and is found even in Siberia and Kamtschatka, but is very rare in this island. Though not statedly birds of passage, they sometimes fly from the mountains to the plains ; and Frisch observes, that flocks of them are frequently seen to accompany other birds into different parts of Germany, especially where there are pine forests. In some particular years, large flocks of them have emi grated to different parts of France, in a half starved and emaciated state; the wild fruits on which they mostly fed having failed from drought in their more ordinary places of resort. They are unfriendly to the health of
large trees, by piercing their trunks. This bird is admi rably figured by Edwards.
C. graculus, Lin. &c. Fregilus graculus, Cuv.; Cora cias erythroramlzhos, Vieill ; Pyrrhocorax graculus, 'Fem.; Red-legged Crow, or Cornish Clough, Prov.; Cor nish Daw, Cornwall sae, Chouk, Daw, Market Jew, Crow, and Skilligrew. Violaceous black ; bill and legs red. Weighs about fourteen ounces; measures nearly seven teen inches in lengh ; and stretches its wings to twenty-six inches. Native of the Alps and Pyrenees, Norway. Aus tria, and various countries of the continent of Europe. In this island it seems to be principally limited to Devon shire, Cornwall, and Wales; but it is also found in some parts of Scotland and the Hebrides. It appears in im mense flocks in Egypt, towards the end of the annual in undation of the Nile, when it feeds, with the storks and falcons, on the reptiles which then overrun the land. With us, they are stationary throughout the year. According to Scopoli, they are particularly fond of locusts and grass hoppers, and are observed to feed much on juniper-ber ries. They appear to be partial to sea-shores, inhabiting cliffs and ruined towers, or castles ; but they are not con stant to their places of abode, deserting them occasionally for a week or ten days at a time. They commonly fly very high, are seldom seen abroad except in fine weather, and make a more shrill and stridulous noise than the jackdaw. Their nest, which is composed of sticks, and lined with a great quantity of wool and hair, is usually built about the middle of the cliffs, or in the most inaccessible parts of ruins. The eggs, which are commonly four or five, are somewhat larger than those of the jackdaw, and of a dull white, sprinkled with light-brown and ash-coloured spots, mostly at the larger end. The ordinaiy food of these birds consists of grain and insects, though, in confinement, they show no aversion to flesh. They are easily tamed, but crafty and capricious; nor should they be trusted where articles of value are kept ; for they are taken with glitter ing objects, and are apt to snatch up bits of lighted sticks, with which they have been known to set fire to a house. With their long bills, they will also tear holes in the thatch of roofs, in search of worms and insects. and, by thus ad mitting the ram, accelerate the decay of the thatch. The Cornish peasantry often keep them tame in their small gardens. The appearance of any thing strange or fright ful makes them shriek aloud ; but when applying for food, or desirous of pleasing those who usually fondle them, they render their chattering very soft and engaging. In this domesticated state, they are docile and amusing, and very regular to their hours of feeding; but however familiar they may be with their more immediate friends, they are impatient of the approach of a stranger.