an English officer,* who was travelling in a very wild, unfrequented part of North America, where no gunners had ever gone before him, and no Jay could therefore have ever learned the proper distance to keep, in order to ensure its safety. Yet there they were, exactly like our common English Jays, shy and cautious, as if they had been hunted by sportsmen every day of their lives, keeping at a certain distance, with that occasional clatter and chattering so well known to those who have patiently and perseveringly pursued from copse to copse, or tree to tree, a disturbed party of these cunning birds.

At the same time, certain birds of similar habits will natu

rally, under peculiar circumstances, act very differently; we have an instance of this in the singular departure of the Magpie from its usual custom of building its nest. Everybody knows that where trees abound, that which is loftiest, or most difficult of access, is usually chosen; but in parts where there are no trees, instead of retiring to high rocks, and choosing places not easily approached, they will take possession of bushes close to the very doors of houses, particularly in those countries. where, instead of being persecuted, they are preserved, from an opinion that it is unlucky to kill them. Accordingly, in Sweden and Norway, travellers are struck by their surprising numbers and tameness, their nests being built in some low bushy tree close to the cottage-doors, where they are never disturbed.

The following instance, which fell under the observation of a gentleman when making an excursion in a remote and barren part of the north of Scotland, not only corroborates the statement from Norway and Sweden, but is attended with many other interesting particulars of the sagacity shown by a pair of Magpies. Observing them hopping round a gooseberrybush, and flying in and out in an extraordinary manner, he noticed the circumstance to the owners of the house in which he was, who informed him that as there were no trees in the neighbourhood, they had for several years built their nest and brought up their young in that bush. And that foxes, cats, hawks, &c., might not interrupt them, they had barricaded not only the nest, but the bush itself all round, with briers and thorns, in a formidable manner. The materials of the nest all round on the outside were so rough, strong, and firmly entwined with the bush, that, without a hedge-knife or something of the kind, even a man could not, without much pain and trouble, get at their young; the barrier from the outer to the inner edge being above a foot in breadth. Frogs, mice, worms, or anything living, were plentifully brought to their young. One day, one of the parent birds attacked a rat, and not being able to kill it, one of the young ones came out of the nest and assisted in its destruction, which was not finally accomplished till the other old one, arriving with a dead mouse, also lent its aid. The female was observed to be the most active and thievish, and withal very ungrateful; for although the children about the house had often frightened cats and hawks from the spot, yet she one day seized a chicken, and carried it to the top of the house to eat it, where the hen immediately followed, and having rescued the chicken, brought it safely down in her beak; and it was remarked that the poor little bird, though it made a great noise while the Magpie was carrying it up, was quite quiet, and seemed to feel no pain while its mother was carrying it down. These Magpies were supposed to have been the very same pair which had built there for several years, never suffering either the young, when grown up, or anything else, to take possession of their bush. The nest they carefully fortified afresh every spring with

rough, strong, prickly sticks, which they sometimes drew in with their united forces, if unable to effect the object alone. To this tameness and familiarity the Magpie will sometimes add a considerable degree of courage, and not satisfied with driving away intruders from its premises, has been known to attack animals much its superior in size. One of them was seen pursuing a full-grown hare, making frequent and furious pounces upon it, from which the animal at last escaped only by making for a thick hedge, at the other side of which it ran off to some distance from the place where it had entered, without being observed by its pursuer. No cause could be assigned for this assault.

A favourable trait in their character occurred in Essex, where some boys, having taken four young ones from a Raven's nest, placed them in a waggon in a cart-shed. About the same time, they happened to destroy the young of a Magpie, which had built its nest near the cart-shed; when the old Magpie, hearing the young Ravens cry for food, brought some, and constantly fed them till they were given away by the boys.

Generally speaking, these birds prefer our northern climates, though they are very plentifully spread over the world. In some spots they are, however, very scarce, without any apparent reason. Thus, a traveller, who had been through Turkey, remarked that he never saw a single bird of this species, and had seen very few indeed in the adjoining countries.

CHAPTER X.

Passerine Order continued.-Conirostres, Conical Beaks.-Orioles.--Starlings. Habits of.-Finch Tribe. - Goldfinch.-Anecdotes of.-Nests rapidly completed.-Curious Nests in Africa. -Age of small Birds.— Canary Birds.-Trade in.-Bullfinches, Piping.-How trained. -Boldness of.-Affectionate and Social Habits of.-Also of Linnets.-Use of small Birds in destroying Insects.

THERE are seven genera of this tribe, of which four are foreign; it is the most numerous perhaps, of all the divisions, including, as it does, that host of hard-billed birds, of infinite variety, from the Starling down to the Sparrow, which is scattered so widely over the face of the globe. To pretend to enumerate them in a work of this kind would be impossible, and we shall therefore confine ourselves to a few anecdotes, illustrating the habits of some of those species which are most familiarly known. We have placed the Starling at the head of them, as being one of the connecting links between the Grakles and Thrush genera of the preceding table and those of the present. There is one other bird, the Golden Oriole, indeed, which is a more closely connecting link, and might, without impropriety, be placed among the conirostral birds, inasmuch as the point of its upper mandible is slightly notched: but we mention the Starling as the best known, the Oriole, or Golden Thrush, being a bird of great rarity in this country, though, when once seen, it cannot fail of being recognised and remembered, the whole plumage, with the exception of the wings and tail, being of a bright orange or golden colour.

The Starling, although closely resembling the Thrush and Blackbird in some respects, differs from them essentially in others; and as its beak, on examination, will be found to be

without a notch at its extremity, it may be decidedly placed amongst the conirostral tribe.

Of some birds it is difficult, from their retired habits, to give any clear and accurate account. Not so of our friend the Starling. When it suits his purpose, he comes fearlessly under our observation, and invites us to learn his history. For many and

The Starling.

many a year have we watched him from month to month, with the exception of a certain season, when, for reasons best known to himself, he altogether disappears, and leaves us to wonder what is become of him.

Close before the window of our scene of observation, a wellmown short-grassed lawn is spread before him-it is his diningroom; there in the spring he is allowed to revel, but seldom molested, on the plentiful supply of worms, which he collects pretty much in the same manner as the Thrush, already described. Close at hand, within half a stone's-throw, stands an ivy-mantled parish church, with its massy grey tower, from the turreted pinnacle of which rises a tall flag-staff, crowned by its weathercock; under the eaves and within the hollows and chinks of the masonry of this tower are his nursery establishments. On the battlements and projecting grotesque tracery of its Gothic ornaments he retires to enjoy himself, looking down on the rural world below; while, at other times, a still more elevated party will crowd together on the letters of the weathercock, or, accustomed to its motion, sociably twitter away their chattering song, as the vane creaks slowly round with every change of wind.

We will give a journal of our Starlings' lives. At the close of January, one or two unconnected birds now and then make their appearance on this weathercock; at first but for a few minutes, as if without an assignable reason they had merely touched upon it as an inviting resting-place, in their unsettled course. In February, if the weather happens to be mild, the number of idlers may possibly now and then increase; but