the lower branches of the oak, or inspect the woodbine mantling round the hazel." The eggs are somewhat smaller than those of the Magpie, broadly ovate, generally an inch and a quarter long, with their largest transverse diameter ten and a half twelfths; pale bluish-green, faintly and thickly freckled with pale purplish and yellowish-brown. They vary considerably in colour, although not so much as those of the Magpie, and their number is from five to seven. Although the Jay thus rears a large family, it is nowhere abundant, being in most districts less numerous than even the Magpie, which, however, is fonder of shewing itself, whereas the bird under consideration is of retired habits, and skulks among the trees and bushes as if ashamed of being seen. Another circumstance which may tend to diminish its number is, that, being a more showy bird than any other of the family, its skin prepared by the bird-stuffer is much in request as a domestic ornament. Add to this, the enmity which gamekeepers and gardeners, not without reason, have to it, and you will not be surprised to find it everywhere scarce. YOUNG.-The young when fledged are of the same colours as the adult, although somewhat less bright. They are abroad by the end of June, and keep together for several weeks. NUCIFRAGA. NUTCRACKER. BILL rather long, straight, moderately strong, tapering, of nearly equal height and breadth at the base, slightly compressed, but with the extreme tip depressed. Upper mandible having the dorsal outline almost straight, being very slightly convex towards the end, the ridge rather narrow but obtuse, the sides very convex, the edges sharp, direct, with a very obscure sinus close to the depressed blunt tip. Lower mandible with the angle very short, broad and rounded, the dorsal outline ascending and slightly convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip rather blunt and a little depressed. The gape-line is nearly straight, being very slightly arched. Nostrils rather small, round, in the fore part of the very short, broad, nasal groove, and concealed by the narrow reversed feathers, which cover about a sixth of the bill. Eyelids feathered, having a narrow crenate bare margin. Aperture of the ear roundish, of moderate size. Head rather large, oblong, nearly flat above; neck short; body ovate, compact. Legs of moderate length and strength; tarsi moderate, covered anteriorly with ten scutella, posteriorly with two plates, meeting behind with a sharp edge, and several small transverse scales below. Toes of moderate size; the first large, broad at the base, rather longer than the second and fourth, which are equal, the third considerably longer; the fore toes spread very little, the third and fourth united as far as the second joint; all covered FIG. 90. above with few scutella, beneath padded and granulate. Claws long, slightly arched, much compressed, acute; the first stronger and more arched, the third about the same length, but much more slender, the fourth smallest and about half the length of the third. Plumage soft, rather blended, the feathers generally ovate and rounded. Feathers on the head short; those at the base of the upper mandible linear, stiffish, reflected, adpressed. Wings of moderate length, much rounded; the primary quills rather narrow and decurved towards the end; the first very short, the fourth longest, the fifth scarcely shorter; the secondary ten, long, rather broad, rounded with an acumen. Tail of moderate length, nearly even, of twelve broad, rounded feathers. The Nutcracker, Nucifraga Caryocatactes, forms the transition from the Crows to the Starlings, and as M. Temminck thinks to the Woodpeckers, some of which it certainly resembles in the form of its bill, of which however the point is not compressed as in that family, but depressed as in the Starlings. Its feet are similar to those of the Crows, and still more of the Jays and Starlings, but are not more adapted for climbing than those of the last-mentioned families, although M. Temminck states that its habits greatly resemble those of the Woodpeckers. With the other species I am not acquainted. In the form of the bill, the genus Coracias approaches to this, as well as to Corvus; but the tarsi are not more than half the length of those of Nucifraga, the hind toe is much shorter than the second and fourth, and the wing has a different form. Corvus Caryocatactes. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 157. Le Casse-noix. Nucifraga Caryocatactes. Temm. Man. d'Orn. I. 117. Nucifraga Caryocatactes. Nutcracker. Selb. Illustr. I. 368. Plumage brown, with numerous oblong white spots. THE Nutcracker being merely a rare straggler with us, so that opportunities of studying its habits have not occurred, all that can with propriety be done here is to present a description of a specimen killed in Scotland, and now before me. sex was not determined. The The form and size are nearly those of the Common Jay, but the details being given in the generic character, it is unnecessary to repeat them. The bill, feet, and claws are brownishblack. The general tint of the plumage is dull reddish-brown; the upper part of the head, the wing-coverts, quills, and tail, blackish-brown. The top of the head, and the upper tailcoverts are plain; all the other feathers have an oblong white spot margined with dark-brown at the end, the spots of the lower parts larger. The lower tail-coverts and the tips of the tail-feathers are white, the lateral feathers having most, and the central least, of that colour. Length to end of tail 12 inches; wing from flexure 7: tail 5; bill along the ridge 1. Montagu states that "it is a rare species in England; two instances only on record: one shot in Flintshire, the other in Kent." Mr. Selby adds another, an individual having been seen by Captain Robert Mitford, in Netherwitton Wood, in Northumberland, in the autumn of 1819. There is a specimen in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, said to have been shot in Scotland; another in that of Mr. Arbuthnot at Peterhead; and the individual from which I have taken. the above description belongs to Mr. Th. Henderson, Coates" Crescent, Edinburgh. It is said by authors to be common in many parts of the Continent, inhabiting the forests, and feeding on larvæ, insects, fruits, and occasionally eggs, and even young birds. Brisson states that it occurs in Austria, occasionally appears in various districts of Germany, and in 1753 was seen in very great numbers in France. M. Valmont-Bomare informs us that it prefers living in the pine-forests of mountainous regions, and feeds chiefly on fir-seeds and nuts. Nothing, he says, is more curious than to see it eating one of the latter. Having taken it from its store in the hole of a tree, it fixes it in a fissure, splits it open with a blow of its bill, and then extracts the kernel. Crows, Jays, and some Titmice, it may be observed, act in the same manner. |