282 INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 



The pied and yellow wagtails run close to the 

 legs and noses of cattle which are grazing, in 

 pursuit of the insects disturbed by them : the 

 same motive also, induces these and many other 

 birds to follow the husbandman when he is busy 

 with the plough or harrow; and the redbreast 

 attends the gardener in his labours, and seizes 

 the worms which he turns up with his spade. 



Mr. White states* that the great titmouse, in 

 severe weather, frequents houses ; and in deep 

 snows, as it hangs with its back downwards, 

 draws straws lengthwise from the eaves of those 

 buildings which are thatched, in order to pull 

 out the flies that are concealed between them; 

 and I have seen hooded crows, on the eastern 

 coast of Ireland, after many unavailing efforts 

 to break with their beaks some of the muscles 

 on which they were feeding, fly with them to a 

 great height in the air, and by letting them fall 



the fish-hawk or asprey, for the purpose of depriving it of its 

 prey, it does not attempt to rise above it, as stated by Wilson 

 in his Ornithology of the United States of America, vol. iv. p. 

 90 — 1, but following it closely, urges it from below to as great 

 an elevation as possible, in order that when the hawk quits its 

 prize, it may be able to secure the fish before it reaches the 

 water. As the fish-hawks are not capable of contending indi- 

 vidually with the white-headed eagle, they sometimes combine 

 together in considerable numbers to expel the marauder from 

 their haunts. 



* Natural History of Selborne, p. 106. 



