OF THE NINE-KILLE R. i-^ 



Englifh, Nine-killer); that this hird had a pra£lice of 

 catching and fticking up nine grafshoppers a day, and 

 that as he well knew they did not devour the grafohoppers, 

 nor any other infefts, he thought they mull do it for 

 pleafure. I afked him for a defcription of this bird, and 

 was perfectly fatisfied that it lived entirely on fmall ani- 

 mals, fuch as fmall birds, mice, &c, for I had paid at- 

 tention to this bird as early as the year 1761, when, in 

 the winter, one of the fame fpecies took a favourite litile 

 bird out of my cage at the window, from which time I 

 have watched them more clofcly, and have found them 

 more numerous in the weftern-country than here. Not 

 being fatisfied with what the tenant had told me re- 

 fpedting the intention of the bird's doing all this (viz. for 

 diverfion fake) , and particularly obfervang each and every 

 one of thefe grafshoppers ftuck up fo regularly, and in 

 their natural pofition as when on the ground, not one of 

 them having its back downwards, 1 began to conjedture 

 what might be the real intention which the bird had in 

 this, and my determined opinion was, that this little 

 bird-hawk, by inflinft, made ufe of this art, in order to 

 decoy the fmaller birds, which feed on infedis, and by 

 thefe means have a fair opportunity of catching them. 

 All this 1 communicated to my friends, on my return 

 home, and they were not lefs aftonilTied at what 1 had 

 related to them, than 1 had been on difcovering the fad:. 

 It being agreed that one or more gentlemen of learning 

 and obfervation iliould more minutely examine into this 

 matter, the proprietor of this farm, with another gentle- 

 man and myfelf, went this day out for the purpofe, and 

 viewing the grafshoppers on a number of thefe fmall 

 trees -(fome of which we cut off, and took home), we 

 returned to the tenant, who not only himfelf but alfo 

 his father and fifter gave us the heft aifurances, that they 

 had, long fince, and from time to time, obferved this 

 R bird 



