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at liberty in England, I was at first rather at a loss to ascertain the name of a bird 

 which allowed me frequently to approach within a few yards, as it sat on the pro- 

 jecting twig of a bush in the vallies of the hilly district of Baden Baden. I can 

 testify to the power assigned to it by some Naturalists, of varying its notes, or ra- 

 ther imitating those of other birds. Not exactly, indeed ; for my first acquaintance 

 with the Butcher bird was occasioned by hearing notes not entirely familiar to me, 

 though much resembling those of the Stonechat. Following the sound, I soon 

 discovered the utterer, and while listening, to my surprise, the original notes were 

 discarded and others adopted of a softer and more melodious character, never, how- 

 ever, prolonged to any thing like a continuous song. Its grave ash coloured garb 

 with its peculiar black patch on the cheek, soon convinced me that my unknown 

 friend was the Butcher bird, that petty tyrant of its neighbourhood, carrying on in- 

 cessant warfare and wanton waste of life amongst the small fry of the passerine order, 

 and whose war-cry was wont to set a host of minor warblers to flight. When con- 

 templating the plump, comfortable, tame-looking bird before me, its placid look and 

 mild demeanour beaming, as far as externals might be depended on, with benevo- 

 lence and good will to every songster of the grove, I could scarcely persuade my- 

 self that its character had not been grossly libelled, and that such a picture of bon- 

 homie was not, in truth, the friend and guardian of his lesser feathered brethren. 

 But that his tender mercies were cruel was a fact too firmly established to admit of 

 doubt ; and as be flitted away to a distant spray, I was left alone to meditate on the 

 truth of the adage, applicable to birds as well as men, nimium ne crede colori. 



The Golden Oriole, ( Oriolus Galbula). I might for a moment have had 

 my doubts as to the specific identity of the last mentioned bird, but here there can 

 be neither error nor hesitation. On the least observing, this concentrated essence 

 of golden plumage obtrudes itself ; and who that has ever once seen this passing 

 meteor of brightness, even on the wing, can doubt of its being the Golden Oriole. 

 I saw but one in a state of freedom ; its presence adding one more item towards 

 perfection in the lovely entrance of the valley leading to the mineral springs of 

 Tonestein, and the solitary lake and convent in the circuitous route between 

 Briihl and Andernach. I could not find that they were common anywhere ; if, 

 indeed, plentifully distributed over the country, they ought to be much oftener 

 seen, as they are in the habit of frequenting orchards or gardens ; being, like our 

 Jays, sad thieves when the ripened cherry-trees tempt them to become purloiners. 

 I suspect, however, that they are locally gregarious ; for a French Naturalist once 

 assured me that, in his roamings through the forests of his district, months often 

 passed without his falling in with a single bird ; whereas, at other times, not limit- 

 ed to particular seasons, he occasionally found them in comparative abundance. 

 In the public market at Cologne I saw a pair of young ones in nearly full plumage, 

 for which I was asked the moderate sum of three shillings. Had my steps been 

 bending downwards on the Rhine, instead of upwards with a long journey before 



