BIRDS AND MAN 45 



but by and by, in one of its jumps, it caught the 

 sheep's ear in its beak and remained hanging with 

 di'ooping wings and danghng legs. The sheep shook 

 her head several times and at last shook the bird off ; 

 but no sooner was it down than it jumped up and 

 caught the ear again ; then at last the sheep, fairly 

 beaten, struggled up to her feet, throwing the bird 

 off, and lazily walked away, shaking her head 

 repeatedly. 



How great the confidence of the plover must have 

 been to allow it to act in such a manner ! 



This perfect confidence which birds have in the 

 mammals they have been taught by experience and 

 tradition to regard as harmless must be familiar to 

 any one who has observed partridges associating 

 with rabbits. The manners of the rabbit, one would 

 imagine, must be exceedingly " upsetting " to birds 

 of so timorous a disposition. He has a way, after a 

 quiet interval, of leaping into activity with startling 

 suddenness, darting violently away as if scared out 

 of his senses ; but his eccentric movements do not 

 in the least alarm his feathered companions. One 

 evening early in the month of March I witnessed 

 an amusing scene near Ockley, in Surrey. I was 

 walking towards the village about half an hour after 

 sunset, when, hearing the loud call of a partridge, 



