THE BITER BIT. 49 



flock near the cliffs, observed an osprey rising 

 with difficulty from the sea, and bearing in his 

 claws a large fish, with which he alighted near the 

 edge of the precipice. Running up hastily to the 

 spot, and perceiving the distress of the bird, who 

 appeared equally incapable of carr3dng off his prize, 

 or of disengaging himself from it, but looked, 

 as the boy expressed it, " as if he was stuck in a 

 trap,'' he disabled and subsequently despatched 

 him with his crook. I saw this specimen after it 

 had been set up by a clever taxidermist,* who, to 

 commemorate the particulars of its capture, liad 

 mounted it on a large fish, with the claws firmly 

 imbedded in its scaly back. 



What a singular fate for any predacious animal 

 to meet vvdth when obeying the dictates of what 



■^ Mr. Swaysland, of Brighton, who has done much 

 within the last few years to elevate the character of his 

 art. From a correct knowledge of the proportions and 

 attitudes of birds — the result of out-door observation — 

 he succeeds in restoring to each its peculiar form and 

 expression. Indeed, his specimens exhibit a life-like 

 spirit which I have seldom seen surpassed, and contrast 

 advantageously with those unhappy families of wood- 

 peckers and kingfishers which one sometimes sees trying 

 to stand in impossible attitudes within the shop- window 

 of the ordinary bird-stufFer. 



D 



