'day followed me when I was on horseback, more than two leagues, sailing above my head.

It had an aversion both to dogs and cats, nor was it in the least 'afraid of them; it had often tough 'battles with them, but always came off victorious. I had four very strong cats, which I collected into my gar

This man, having discovered, from the noise of the bell, that he was my bird, came next morning to inform me. I sent to make search

them a bit of raw flesh; the nim'blest cat seized it, the rest pursued; but the bird darted upon her body,

be found, nor did it return till seven days after. I had been used to call him every evening with à

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ed her sides with his talons with such force that the cat was obliged to relinquish her prize. Often another cat snatched it the instant it dropped, but she suffered the same treatment, till the buzzard got entire possession of the plunder. He was so dextrous in his defence, that when he perceived himself assailed at once by the four cats he took wing, and uttered a cry of exulta tion. At last the cats, chagrined with their repeated disappointment, would no longer contend.

This buzzard had a singular antipathy: he would not suffer a red cap on the head of any of the peasants, and so alert was he in whip'ping it off, that they found their heads bare without knowing what I was become of their caps. He also snatched wigs without doing any injury, and he carried these caps and wigs to the tallest tree in a neighbouring park, which was the ordinary deposit of his booty.

.

He would suffer no other bird of prey to enter his domain; he attacked them very boldly, and put them to flight. He did no mischief in my court-yard; and the poultry, which at first dreaded him, grew insensibly reconciled to him. The chickens and ducklings received not, the least harsh usage, and yet he bathed among the latter. But, what is singular, he was not gentle to my 'neighbours' poultry and I was of ten obliged to publish that I would pay for the damages that he might 'occasion. However, he was often * fired at, and he, at different times, re'ceived fifteen musket-shots without suffering any fracture. But once, early in the morning, hovering over the skirts of a forest, he dared to attack a fox; and the keeper, seeing him on the shoulders of the

for six days; but, on the seventh, I heard a feeble cry at a distance, which I judged to be that of my buzzard: I repeated the whistle a second time, and heard the same cry. I went to the place from whence the sound came, and, at last found my poor buzzard with his wing broken, who had travelled 'more than half a league on foot to regain his asylum, from which he was then distant about a hundred and twenty paces. Though he was 'extremely reduced he gave me many 'caresses. It was six weeks before 'he was recruited, and his wounds

were healed; after which he began 'to fly as before, and follow his old 'habits for about a year: he then disappeared for ever. I am convinced that he was killed by acci 'dent and that he would not have forsaken me from choice'." p.212215.

The affection of owls for their young is exemplified in the following instance.

"M. Cronstedt has recorded a a very singular instance of the attachment of these birds to their young. This gentleman resided several years, on a farm in Sudermania, near a steep mountain, on the summit of which two eagle owls had their nest. One day, in the month of July, one of the young, having quitted the nest, was seized by some of his servants. This bird, after it was caught, was shut up in a large hen-coop, and the next morning Mr. Cronstedt found a young partridge lying dead before the door of the coop. He immediately concluded that this provision had been brought thither by the old owls, which he supposed had been making search in the night-time for their lost young one, and had been led to the place of its confinement by

its cry. This proved to have been exactly the case, by the same mark of attention being repeated every night for fourteen days. The game which the old ones carried to it consisted principally of young partridges, for the most part newly killed, but sometimes a little spoiled. One time a moor-fowl was brought so fresh, to that it was still warm under the wings. A putrid lamb was also brought, probably what had been spoiled by laying a long time in the nest of the old owls, and they brought it merely because they had no better provision at

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the time.

"M. Cronstedt and his servant tried to watch several nights, in order that they might observe through a window when this supply was deposited; but their plan did not succeed; and it would appear that these owls, which are very sharp-sighted, had discovered the moment when the window was not watched, as food was found to have been deposited for the young before the coop that very night.

In the month of August this care ceased; but that period is exactly the time when all birds of prey abandon their young to their own exertions. From this instance it may be readily concluded, how much game must be destroyed by a pair of these owls during the time that they rear their young. And as the eatable species of the forest repair chiefly in the evening to the fields, they are particularly exposed to the acute sight, smell, and claws of these birds of the night." p. 225

227.

Anecdotes of the parrot.

"A male and female of this species were lodged together in a large square cage. The vessel which held their food was placed at the bottom. The male most commonly sat on the same perch with the female, and close beside her. Whenever one descended for food the other always followed, and when the wants of nature were satisfied, they hastened together to the highest perch of the cage. They passed four years together in this state of con finement, and from their mutual at tentions and satisfaction, it was evident that a strong affection for each other had been excited. At the end of this period the female fell into a state of languor, which had every symptom of old age; her legs swelled, and VOL. I.

knots appeared upon them, as if the disease were of the nature of the gout. It was no longer possible for her to descend and take her food as formerly; but the male, ever attentive and alert in whatever concerned her, went and brought it to her, carrying it in his bill and emptying it into hers. He continued to feed her in this manner, with the utmost vigilance, for the space of four entire months. The infirmities of his mate, however, increased every day; at length she became no longer able to sit upon the perch; she remained now crouched at the bottom, and from time to time made a few useless efforts to regain the lower perch: the male, who remained close by her, seconded these her feeble efforts with all his power. Sometimes he seized with his bill the upper part of her wing, to try to draw her up to him; sometimes he took her by the bill and attempted to raise her up, reite rating his efforts for that purpose several times. His countenance, his gestures, his continual solicitude; every thing, in short, indicated in this interesting bird an ardent desire to aid the weakness of his compa nion, and to alleviate her sufferings. But the scene became still more interesting when the female was on the point of expiring. The unfortunate male went round and round her with out ceasing; he redoubled his assiduities and his tender cares; he at tempted to open her bill in order to give her some nourishment; his emo tion became every instant redoubled; he went to her and returned with the most agitated air, and with the ut most inquietude: at intervals he uttered the most plaintive cries; at other times, with his eyes fixed upon the female, he preserved the most sorrowful silence. His faithful.companion at length expired: he him self languished from that time, and survived her only a few months." p. 242, 243.

"Willoughby tells us of a parrot, which, when a person said to it,

laugh, Poll, laugh,' laughed accordingly, and the instant after screamed out, What a fool to make me

laugh l' Another grew old with its master, and shared with him the infirmities of age. Being accustomed to hear scarcely any thing but the words, I am sick;' when a person

4 U.

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asked it, How d'ye do, Poll? how 'd'ye do?' 'I am sick,' it replied in a doleful tone, stretching itself over the fire, I am sick'." p. 246, 237. "Mr. Locke, in his Essay on the Human Understanding, has related an anecdote concerning a parrot, of which, however incredible it may appear to some, he seems to have possessed so much evidence, as at least to have believed it himself. The story is this: During the government of Prince Maurice in Brazil he had heard of an old parrot that was much celebrated for answering many of the common questions that were put to it, like a rational creature. It was at a great distance, but so much had been said about it, that his curiosity was roused, and he directed it to be sent for. When it was introduced into the room where the prince was sitting, in company with several Dutchmen, it immediately exclaimed, in the Brazilian language, What a company of white men are here!' They asked it, Who is that man,' pointing to the prince, the parrot answered,Some general or other.' When the attendants carried it up to him, he asked it, through the medium of an interpreter, for he was ignorant of the language, From whence do 'you come the parrot answered, From Marinnan.' The prince asked, To whom do you belong?' It answered, To a Portuguese. He asked again, What do you do there?' It answered, I look after the chick'ens.' The prince, laughing, exclaimed, You look after chickens!' The parrot in answer said, Yes, I; ⚫ and I know well enough how to do it.' "This account came directly from the prince to the above author: he said, that though the parrot spoke in a language he did not understand, yet he could not be deceived, for he had in the room both a Dutchman who spoke Brazilian, and a Brazilian who spoke Dutch: that he asked them separately and privately, and that both agreed very exactly in giving him the parrot's discourse. If the story is devoid of foundation, the prince must have been deceived, for there is not the least doubt but he believed it." p. 247-249.

"This little bird seems peculiarly fond of the society of man, and it must be confessed that in some parts of the world it is often protected by his interested care. From observing its utility in destroying insects, it has long been a custom, in many parts of the United States, to fix a small box at the end of a long pole, in gardens and about houses, as a place for it to build in. In these boxes the animals form their nest and hatch their young, which the parent birds feed with a variety of different insects, particularly those species that are injurious in gardens. A gentleman who was at the trouble of watching these birds for the purpose, observed that the parents generally went from the nest and returned with insects from forty to sixty times in an hour, and that in one particular hour they carried food no fewer than seventy-one times. In this business they were engaged during the greatest part of the day. Supposing twelve hours to be occupied in it, a single pair of these birds would destroy at least six hundred insects in the course of one day, on the supposition that the two birds only took a single insect each time. But it is highly probable that they often took more.

"We suspect it is this bird that Mr. St. John has called a Wren, recording the following story of its bravery and selfishness. Three birds had built their nests almost contiguous to each other. A swallow had affixed hers in the corner of the piazza next his house; a bird he calls a phebe in the other corner; and a wren possessed a little box which he had made on purpose and hung between. These were all quite tame. The wren had for some time shown signs of dislike to the box which had been given to it, though it was not known on what account. At length, however, it resolved, small as it was, to drive the swallow from its habitation, and, astonishing to say it, succeeded. Impudence,' says Mr. St. John, gets the better of modesty;

and this exploit was no sooner per'formed than it removed every ma'terial to its own box with the most 'admirable dexterity. The signs of triumph appeared very visible; it fluttered its wings with uncommon velocity; and an universal joy was 'perceivable in all its movements. The peaceable swallow, like the

passive quaker, meekly sat at a small distance, and never offered the least resistance. But no sooner was the plunder carried away, than the injured bird went to work with ⚫ unabated ardour, and in a few days the depredations were repaired.' Mr. St. John, to prevent any repetition of the same violence, removed the wren's box to another part of the house." p. 321-323.

In the account of the chimney swallow the following instance of sagacity is inserted :

"Professor Kalm, in his travels into America, says, that a very reputable lady and her children related to him the following story respecting these birds, assuring him at the same time that they were all eyewitnesses to the fact:-A couple of swallows built their nest in the stable belonging to the lady; the female laid eggs in the nest, and was about to brood them; some days after the people saw the female still sitting on the eggs, but the male, flying about the nest, and sometimes setting on a nail, was heard to utter a very plaintive note, which betrayed his uneasiness. On a nearer examination the female was found dead in the nest, and the people flung her away. The male then went to sit upon the eggs, but after being about two hours on them, and perhaps thinking the business too troublesome, he went out, and returned in the afternoon with another female, which sat upon the nest, and afterwards fed the young ones till they were able to provide for themselves." p. 387, 388.

Annexed to the description of the cock are the following remarks, with an account of extreme brutality, and the awful death of a cock-fighter.

"We cannot take leave of this animal without a few observations on the savage diversion of cock-fighting, which even still continues, to the disgrace of a Christian nation, to be encouraged, not by the lowest and meanest merely, but even by some that are stationed in the highest ranks of society. The Shrove Tuesday massacre of throwing at these unfortunate animals is, it is true, almost discontinued; but the cock-pit yet remains a reproach and disgrace to the characters of Englishmen. The refinements that have in this country taken place in the pitting of these courageous birds against each other

would strike almost the rudest of the savage tribes of mankind with horror. The Battle-royal and the Welsh-main would scarcely be tolerated in any other country in the world. In the former an unlimited number of cocks is pitted, of which only the last surviving bird is accounted the victor. Thus, suppose there were at first sixteen pair of cocks, of these sixteen are killed; the remaining sixteen are pitted a second time; the eight conquerors of these are pitted a third time; the four conquerors a fourth time; and lastly, the two conquerors of these the fifth time: so that (incredible barbarity !) thirty-one cocks must be inhumanly murdered for the sport and pastime of men who bear the sacred name of Christians!

"Are these your sovereign joys, creation's lords?

Is death a banquet for a godlike soul?

"The tendency of this savage diversion may be readily deduced from numerous instances of malignant passions created by its pursuit. We shall relate but one. Mr. Ardesoif, of Tottenham, a young man of large fortune, was excessively fond of cockfighting. He had a favourite cock that had won on many profitable matches; but for once losing he was so enraged, that he had the bird tied to a spit and roasted before a large fire. The screams of the miserable animal were so affecting, that some gentlemen who were present attempted to interfere: this enraged him further to such a degree that he seized a poker, and with the most furious vehemence declared, he would kill the first man who interposed; but in the midst of his asseverations he fell down senseless on the spot, and, on their taking him up, was found to be dead. Such we are assured were the circumstances that attended the death of this great pillar of humanity!

"The greatest rivals the English have in the art of cock-fighting are the inhabitants of Sumatra, and some other parts of the East. They, indeed, pay, perhaps a greater attention to the training and feeding of these birds than we ever did, even when that diversion was at its height. They arm one of the legs only, not with a slender gaff as we do, but with a little implement in the form of a

cimeter, with which the animals make most terrible destruction. The Sumatrians fight their cocks for vast sums: a man has been known to stake his wife or his children; a son his mother or sisters, on the issue of the battle. In disputed points four arbitrators are appointed, and if they cannot agree there is no appeal but to the sword. Some of them have a notion that their cocks are invulner

able: a father on his death-bed has, under this persuasion, been known to direct his son to lay his whole property on a certain bird, fully persuaded of consequent success." p. 437

-439.

The fleetness of ostriches is thus described in an extract from the voyage to Senegal.

"During the time that Mr. Adanson was at Podor, a French factory on the south bank of the river Niger, he says, that two ostriches, which had been about two years in the factory, afforded him a sight of a very extraordinary nature. These gigantic birds, though young, were nearly of the full size. They were (he continues) so tame, that two little blacks mounted both together on the back of the largest. No sooner did he feel their weight than he began to run as fast as possible, and carried them several times round the village; as it was impossible to stop him, otherwise than by obstructing the passage. This sight pleased me so much, that I wished it to be repeated; and, to try their strength, directed a fullgrown negro to mount the smallest, and two others the largest. This burthen did not seem at all disproportioned to their strength. At first they went at a pretty high trot, but when they became heated a little, they expanded their wings, as though to catch the wind, and they moved with such fleetness that they seemed not to touch the ground. Every one must, one time or other, have seen a partridge run, consequently must know that there is no man whatever able to keep up with it; and it is easy to imagine, that if this bird had a longer step, its speed would be considerably augmented. The ostrich moves like the partridge, with both these advantages; and I am satisfied that those I am speaking of would have distanced the fleetest race-horses. that were ever bred in England. It is Aruo they would not hold out so long

as a horse, but without all doubt they would be able to perform the race in less time. I have frequently beholden this sight, which is capable of giving one an idea of the prodigious strength of an ostrich; and of shewing what use it might be of, had we but the method of breaking and managing it as we do a horse." p. 463, 464.

"The mildness of the disposition and sagacity of the stork are describ. ed in the following instances.

"It has a grave air, and a mournful visage; yet, when roused by example, it shews a certain degree of gaiety, for it joins the frolics of children, hopping and playing with them: Isaw in a garden (says Dr. Hermann) where the children were playing at hide and seek, a tame stork join the party, run its turn when touched, and distinguish the child whose turn it was to pursue the rest, so well, as, along with the others, to be on its guard.

"A wild stork was brought by a farmer, in the neighbourhood of Hamburg, into his poultry-yard, to be the companion of a tame one he had long kept there; but the tame stork, disliking the idea of a rival, fell upon the poor stranger, and beat him so unmercifully, that he was compelled to take wing, and with some difficulty got away. About four months afterwards, however, he returned to the poultry-yard, recovered of his wounds, and attended by three other storks, who no sooner alighted than they all together fell upon the tame stork and killed him.” p. 473, 474.

"In the account given of the lapwing we have the following instance of the sociability of its disposition.

"The following anecdote exhibits the domestic nature of the lapwing, as well as the art with which it conciliates the regard of animals differing from itself in nature, and generally considered as hostile to every species of the feathered tribe. Two of these birds were given to a clergyman, who put them into his garden; one soon died, but the other continued to pick up such food as the place afforded, till winter de prived it of its usual supply. Neces sity soon compelled it to draw nearer the house, by which it gradually became familiarized to occasional interruptions from the family. At length one of the servants, when she had