508 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



shire, used to amuse himself by laying down handfuls of corn, and 

 watching the wild ducks regaling themselves on it. He continued 

 this practice so long, that at length, whenever he made his appearance 

 near the river, the ducks would fly about him in such numbers, that 

 the whole wild ducks in that part of the country seemed collected 

 around him. He would then throw down the grain, which he kept 

 loose in his coat pockets for that purpose. The ducks would alight 

 and run to his very feet to gobble up the corn. He would bow down 

 and lay hold of a duck or two and thrust them into his then empty 

 pocket ; and in this way he supplied his hospitable table with wild 

 ducks, fed plump fat with his own hand, for many years without firing 

 a gun. He would not allow any body to fire a gun near the fields 

 which were frequented by the ducks, and which were always kept in 

 grass, in consequence of the overflowing of the river. The ducks 

 would not come near any person else, though he should have been 

 habited in a similar dress, and dispensing his cereal favours as boun- 

 tifully as their real friend. The old gentleman died, and with him 

 died all the hopes of protection, and the enjoyments of good living for 

 the poor ducks. 



Edinburgh. H. S. 



SINGULAR ROOSTING-PLACE FOR A CANARY. So many canary- 

 finches are kept by different persons in the neighbourhood, that during 

 the late summer, it has been no uncommon occurrence to see one that 

 had escaped from confinement flying at large, enjoying the sweets of 

 liberty. Their habits, when thus in a manner wild, closely resemble 

 those of the goldfinch : they frequent gardens and orchards, passing 

 their time on the fruit-trees, and they contrive to pick up a plentiful 

 subsistence: their colour, however, renders them so conspicuous, that 

 they are sure before long to attract the attention of somebody, and 

 they have generally been entrapped, before passing many days, or at 

 most weeks, in a state of freedom. A fine cock has just been captured 

 here in the following singular manner. A few evenings ago, when it 

 was getting dusk, as two persons were walking along the side of a wide 

 ditch containing but little water, they observed a canary bird pass 

 and fly direct into a deserted rat's hole in the bank. Eager to obtain 

 the bird, one of them leaped across and secured the entrance with a 

 wisp of grass, and the next morning it was dug out alive, and unhurt, 

 from its strange subterraneous retreat. E. BLYTH. 



Tooling, Oct. '23rd, 1833. 



