OBSERVATIONS. ON BIRDS. 
BIRDS IN GENERAL; 
IN severe weather, fieldfares, redwings, sky-larks, and tit-larks, 
resort to watered meadows for food; the latter wades up to its 
belly in pursuit of the pupze of insects, and runs along upon the 
floating grass and weeds. Many gnats are on the snow near the 
water ; these support the birds in part. 
Birds are much influenced in their choice of food by colour, for 
though white currants are a much sweeter fruit than red, yet they 
seldom touch the former till they have devoured every bunch of 
the latter. 
Red-starts, fly-catchers, and black-caps, arrive early inApril. If 
these little delicate beings are birds of passage (as we have reason 
to suppose they are, because they are never seen in winter), how 
could they, feeble as they seem, bear up against such storms of 
snow and rain, and make their way through such meteorous turbu- 
lences, as one should suppose would embarrass and retard the most 
hardy and resolute of the winged nation? Yet they keep their 
appointed times and seasons; and in spite of frosts and winds 
return to their stations periodcially as if they had met with nothing 
to obstruct them. The withdrawing and appearance of the short- 
winged summer birds is a very puzzling circumstance in natural 
history. 
When the boys bring me wasps’ nests, my bantam fowls fare 
deliciously, and when the combs are pulled to pieces, devour the 
young wasps in their maggot state with the highest glee and 
delight.* Any insect-eating bird would do the same; and there- 
* See Letter XLITI. Mr. White is quite correct, it is for the larve the ccmbs are scught 
after; we do not know any instance where honey is preyed upon. Several hawks are 
partially insectivorous, particularly some of the small foreign species. The kestrel of 
Europe sometimes feeds on coleoptera. 
