2 IT l o l l ! II.
Held from which potatoes were being Idled; ami here Iln'y diligently explored tin; fresh-turned soil; but.
u bother warms or the smaller ruols Here the object of their seareli, it was impossible In decide. At t inn's I he
imir would settle down in the roadway that ran through a small village consisting of • few scattered hovels;
and here they seemed to have but little res|iect fur the youngsters who now and then rushed from the dwellings
and [idled them with stones, as they moved but a short distance when assailed. They were, however, as
cunning as the Hook (who is declared to smell powder), as the sight of a doubt fid-looking indh iduul w ith a
gnu *as sullicient to put tluiu Immediately on guard ; and when once their suspicions are aroused there are
few birds more wary.
Though my visit to the parts of the coast where these birds may still be met with was in the autumn,
1 examined several situations in which their nests had been placed and, 1 believe I may add, in nearly every
instance, robbed. Ledges in almost perpendicular rock were at limes resorted to; iieeasiomdly, however, their
quarters an- by no means dangerous to reach. I closely inspected two or Ihree cavities among the slabs of
stonr in the rough and broken face of the elilTs, from which young birds had been removnl during the pact
season, nnd where the nest* were still remaining To these a very moderate climber might have made his way
with but lill'c difficult i or r>k. Tin- c.-ambling sides of 'be funnel-hob', ll.e will known " Tol [H-iln pcuwith,"
in the neighbourhood of the Land's End, are still used as a r.esting-pluce; and here a few pairs resort at
iinsioig-iiini' during lie- autumn. It >, how. u r, In p b r I hem to rem iheii v mng, i- 1' tirei al the
llsliing-iilk.gcs in the vicinity make a regular liusinchs of taking Ihetn, as soon as tbey ran wilti safety be
removed. In one or two other localities that an- not M> well known, it is possible that a brood or two may
still escape, though I fear, from all I could barn, these favoured spots are few and for between. As I have
only to plead guilty to causing the death of a pair of Choughs, 1 can hardly he accused of having accelerated
their extermination iti any very alarming degree.
The cause or their scarcity on the Cornish coast is not hard to tind. There is a great demand for young
birds; all that are taken command a ready sale. Consequently, as the nests are not, as a rule, in situations
very difficult to he reached by those accustomed to the use of ropes, at the end of the breeding-season
there an- few liesidc old birds left. If such wholesale roblicry is continued, the result is not difficult to
anticipate, and its accomplishment can hardly he long delayed.
In several districts the Chough seems to have become extinet without having suffered any very great
amount of persecution, unless perhaps the Jackdaws may be responsible for intruding on their haunts. Some
authors stale that these birds, in days gone by, frequented the inland rocks in several of the wildest Highland
glens; and local tradition tells the same story, though neither, as far as I am aware, can give reasons for their
disappearance, or the date at which it is supposed to have occurred. It is a strange fact that now and then
a wanderer returns to the identical spot that was formerly the home of his race. A few years back a curious
bird was noticed by a stalk ins-party in the upper part of Glen Cannieh ; and as there was at the moment no
fear of disturbing the deer, the stranger was cautiously approached and brought down by a ride-bullet, when it
proved to be a Chough. Though they were said formerly to have frequented the glen, the time of their departure
was a mystery even to the oldest inhabitant.
There arc, I expect, few parts of the British Islands, with the exception of thu Cornish coast, where the
whole of the Crow family might be in view at the same time. One afternoon, early in November lysjfi,
while waiting near the old mine ut Trewarvas for a shot at a pair of Choughs, which were working their way
along the coast towards their roosting-quarters in the rocky cliffs at Binxey, I was enabled, by turning from
cost to west, plainly to distinguish, by the help of the glasses, no less than two or three representatives of each
branch of the family. The Choughs previously mentioned were searching for loud on a grassy hank that sloped
dow II towards the shore ; a pair of Havens, croaking loudly, hovered round the rocks immediately below I BM
1 was concealed ; numbers of Jackdaws clustered oa the chimney and buildings of the ruined mine ; while at
CHOUGH.
a lower elevation two or three of a small parly of Grey Crows, who freqnonti-d the shore, were busily engaged
with some shell-tish. Further inland a pair of Black Crows kept watch on all sides from the stone dyke that
separated the pasture above the clitfs from the cultivated ground ; and a large flock of Books were -rait, red
over the hill-side towards the north. In addition to these, a couple of JIagpies bad occupied themselves for a
considerable time in investigating some carrion lying at the edge of a pool of water in the nearest hollow
towards the west.
During my wanderings in that district, while attempting to pick up a knowledge of the habits of this
species, I made the acquaintance of an antiquated native of a small village in the neighbourhood of the coast,
who well remembered the time when these birds bad 1 a plentiful along the dill's in most parts of the county.
The poor old fellow evidently looked kick with regret on the days when he had been enabled lo shoot them in
such numbers that a Daw-pic was by no means an uncommon addition to his usual humble fare; but he
remarked, with a sigh, that he had not tasted one for the hist sixteen years. As he occasionally made himself
useful by the information concerning the locality he was able and willing to supply, aud volunteered one day
to drive up and signal the approach of a pair of Choughs, which were visible on u grassy slopo at a short
distance lo the west, I asked liim, when he had successfully performed his work, if he would not join us at
lunch-time. It is needless to stale that lie was soon hard at work at an enormous hunch of bread and meat,
aud, what was far more to his liking, an unlimited supply of bottled Bass. As the l)ecr disappeared, I he old
man gradually became mure communicative as to his personal allairs, and eventually disclosed the fact that
ho was no stranger to the various hardships and adventures of a smuggler's life. After dilating in a somewhat
rambling fashion oil several of what I suppose he considered the most stirring and exciting episodes of his
chequered career, be concluded by remarking, with a quiet chuckle and evidcul Ij intense satisfaction, " buried
my ole 'oman hist Friday."