PICA MELANOLEUCA. 483 



or hawk, or man himself, to do in the shape of " murderous 

 operations." 



Yet this is nothing to the horrible stories he tells of carrion 

 crows with ewes and young lambs. But in all this there is no 

 marvel ; it is the law of Nature — the strong preying on the 

 weak ; and with man the law of the world — the " survival of 

 the fittest" — as Darwin says — if every creature that preys 

 upon weaker were to be condemned none would survive ; for, 

 as Hamlet says to Polonius, " Give every man his deserts, who 

 would 'scape whipping V Or as a Greater Authority says — 

 " He that is without sin cast the first stone." One day a little 

 girl was deliberately killing one of those beautiful small red 

 beetles called " lady-birds." On being asked why she killed it, 

 she lisped out, " 'Cause its a nasty thing." The gentleman who 

 asked her, having a pocket lens, showed her the beauty of the 

 spots on the wing cases of another " lady-bird" on the leaf of a 

 rose, and told her it ate minute insects, apliids, which by the 

 aid of the lens she saw it busy preying upon, and explained 

 that it was a great friend to the gardener by eating these minute 

 pests. The child opened her eyes with wonder, and said she 

 "fought all beasties should be killed." Such is the instilled 

 ignorance of the law of Nature and of life. I am sorry the 

 same ignorance exists with older human beings than this 

 intelligent young Miss. For while it is true that in carrying on 

 the inexorable law of life the magpie preys upon the eggs and 

 young of other birds, yet (to alter Burns) I may say — 



The ill "we partly may compute, 

 But know not" of the good. 



One morning, at 4 o'clock, on going through Prior Moor I heard 

 a loud churring and chattering, as if a fierce struggle was going 

 on in a high tree close by. On looking up I saw a magpie in 

 the act of robbing a pair of missel thrushes of their young. 

 But although the thrushes were boldly defending their nest 

 from the fierce and persistent attacks of the magpie, I fear if I 

 had not been there it would have succeeded. In this case I did 

 no ill in saving the weak from the strong — even against the law 

 of Nature. White of Selborne says he saw several magpies 

 storming a missel-thrush's nest in his garden, and, although the 

 thrushes fought resolutely, numbers, like well-drilled soldiers, 

 prevailed, and the magpies " tore the nest to pieces, and 

 swallowed the young alive." But it is very careful in protecting 

 its own nest, and does not soon abandon it. Mr Weir says — 



