78 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



and placing them In its open mouth. In looking more 

 closely it was discovered that the thrush had lost its 

 beak: this had been cut off close to the head, probably 

 by a steel or a sudden-death spring trap, such as the 

 children in Cornwall commonly use to catch or kill 

 small birds. The bird was incapable of feeding itself. 



Another case of a beakless bird with a friend was told 

 to me by Mr. E. Selley of Sidmouth, a gardener and 

 local naturalist. His father kept a magpie in a large 

 hutch surrounded by wires through which small birds 

 would pass in to steal the food. Among these was a 

 robin that had lost its beak in a steel trap and this 

 bird the magpie befriended though he was at enmity 

 with the others and hunted them out of his house. The 

 robin with no beak to peck with could only pick up 

 small crumbs, and the magpie taking a piece of bread 

 on its perch would pick it into small pieces to feed the 

 robin. "It sounds like a fairy tale," said Mr. Selley; 

 it is however a very credible kind of fairy tale to those 

 who know a bird. 



Yet another case told to me recently by a friend who 

 was himself a witness to it. A lark was kept in a cage 

 hanging against the front wall of the house, and it was 

 noticed that some sparrows had formed the habit of 

 clinging to the wires and feeding from the seed-box. 

 To stop this plundering the box was transferred from 

 the front to the back of the cage, where it was well 

 out of their reach. Nevertheless their visits continued 

 and they appeared to be faring as well as ever. With 

 a little closer watching it was discovered that the lark 



