54 Proceedings. 



and success on the whole less certain than in more dangerous 

 sites. Hence presumably the abundance of these adventurous 

 species. 



All birds distrust man, but, whilst some keep their appre- 

 hensions within the bounds of reason and experience, as doth 

 the Moorhen, which pays no attention to trains, and may 

 with a little paixis be almost tamed, as at Kew Gardens, 

 others cannot control their terrors and permit the distant 

 approach of a little girl to disturb their nest or their dinner, 

 or leave their eggs to grow cold whilst they gratify a passion 

 for solitude in the next parish. Such was the Great Bustard, 

 now extinct with us ; such is the Golden Eagle. 



Such a mental infirmity must needs be prejudicial to its 

 possessor, for, although in small and inconspicuous species, 

 as the Dartford and Grasshopper Warblers, or the Water 

 Eail, its full effect is not immediately seen, we can see by 

 comparison of these species with their congeners, the White- 

 throat and the Moorhen, that a more forward carriage is 

 compatible with worldly success. 



When we reflect that most of these little creatures have 

 daily beats or rounds which they traverse in search of food, it is 

 manifest that a mind superior to unreasonable fears gives a bird 

 a better chance than is possessed by another whose hurried 

 flight for some insufiicient cause may mean the loss of a meal, 

 and consequently in severe weather the loss of life itself. 



Besides mere pugnacity and calculated courage, there is 

 a quality difficult to define, but valuable to its owner — it 

 is the teachable disposition. Some birds can never learn 

 how far a gun will carry, others betray their nests, others 

 again have made a study of the circumstances and are 

 wiser. Take as an example of an educated bird our Thames 

 Kingfisher. He knows that you want him ; he knows 

 also that, let him fly his best, he is anybody's bird at thirty 

 yards ; what, then, is the determination of the royal breast ? 

 Why, this — that under forty yards he will not give you a 

 chance to shoot. You mark him into a thick bush, run the 

 boat under it and shout — he is quite indifferent ; you remain 

 quiet, so does he ; at the end of ten minutes he thinks you 



