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had hoped might have been allayed. As quick as thought he

was in a hole, and as nearly as possible caught a sitting Nutmeg

Finch, whose nest I had been unacquainted with ; and only the

immediate production of the net averted a catastrophe. Every

time he is let out, he carefully overhauls all the nesting boxes.

For the first three or four outings, I did not trouble to drive a

few of the larger birds out of the aviary. I found, and it is

suggestive, that, when he had had a good supply of raw meat

on the previous day, he troubled himself but little about the

other birds, but that when the raw meat (and nothing would take

its place) had not been supplied, he was most murderously in¬

clined, attacking even such a powerful bird as the Green Oriole

(Oriolus viridisJ ; and an unfortunate Pied Rock-Thrush, who

one day had hidden away instead of seeking the shelter of the

birdroom, was unearthed and nearly disposed of notwithstanding

my immediate rush with the net. Bob went after him with as

deadly a purpose as a female Sparrow-Hawk just off her nest in

the evening would have done. His powers of flight seemed to

be infinitely greater than that of the Thrush ; and the latter ex¬

hibited little of the clever dodging that I should credit the

species with ; but my bird is as fat as a pig and no longer young,

and seemed quite panic-stricken. On one occasion the Regent

was left out, and Bob went straight for him ; but I always keep

the net handy now. It would take a clever bird to strike a

Regent; the latter was like a Magpie dodging a Peregrine; but

he uttered a shriek of terror which I had never heard before and

hope never to hear again ; and it was a day or two before he

fully got over the scare. Since that occasion, the aviary, with

one curious exception, is most carefully cleared of every bird

before Bob is liberated.


It is curious how often birds form the most erroneous

opinion of the nature and power of other birds. When first let

out this summer, I tossed a mealworm down for Bob, which fell

near to an aged Black-breasted Peewit, an Australian three-toed

Wattled Lapwing {Sarciopliorus pectoralis). The latter, a bottom¬

less-pit so far as mealworms are concerned, and too stupid to

recognise his danger, disregarding Bob, ran for the mealworm

and obtained it. The Peewit’s apparent pluck on this occasion

seems so to have impressed Bob that he always gets out of the

Peewit’s way, and treats him with awe and respect. Yet if a fly

should wink, or a moth flutter, this creature will dash recklessly

off, anywhere, and often get hung and hopelessly entangled in

the trees and bushes. For over eleven years has he been in my

garden, and times without number during those eleven years



