hopper for these little ones, no sooner is my back 

 turned than one of my black beauties will jump on 

 the hopper and begin to pick out the seed, evidently 

 he does not think it comes out quick enough, so will 

 lift the lid with his beak, and simply scoop it out 

 until none is left. 



A Chough will make you happy, if only to see 

 his black, waddling, dancing body and his wicked 

 mischievous eyes. 



By the Rev. C. D. Farrar. 



^>^ HE story tells us that Saul, seeking his father's 

 (G; asses, found a kingdom ; so I, while rushing 

 ^"■"^ after a White Jackdaw, stumbled upon my 

 Bearded Tits. It happened " thusly," as poor 

 Artemus Ward was wont to say : I was in I^ondon for 

 a few days, and almost come to the end of my tether. 

 It was Friday morning and I had to be home that 

 evening. I happened to buy "The Feathered World " 

 at Charing Cross, and glancing casually over the 

 advertisements I saw a pair of White Jackdaws offered 

 somewhere in the West Central district. I hailed a 

 hansom and away I drove to the address indicated. 

 The person who opened the door was clearly a 

 ' furriner,' and she informed me in broken English 

 that there was only one Jackdaw — not a pair — 

 but that she could get me a pair from Germany. 

 Dissembling my wrath as well as I could, I asked if 

 I might see the one and only bird. I was taken 

 downstairs to the basement (inwardly trembling as I 

 thought of Coram Street murders), and there I saw a 

 a very dirty and disreputable- looking bird. He 

 reminded me strongly of the Jackdaw of Rheims 

 after the pronouncement of the terrible cur.se. I said 



