30 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



on the part of the falcon, so universal Is the 

 sense of relationship among the kinds that have 

 the rapacious habit; or, at the worst, it was 

 merely an isolated act of deviltry and daring of 

 the sharp-winged pirate of the sky, a sudden as- 

 sertion of over-mastering energy and power, and 

 a very slight offence compared with that of the 

 crow when he carries off and devours his callow 

 little cousins of the rookery. 



One of the first birds I went out to seek — 

 perhaps the most medicinal of all birds to see — 

 was the kingfisher; but he was not anywhere on 

 the river margin, although suitable places were 

 plentiful enough, and myriads of small fishes 

 were visible in the shallow water, seen at rest 

 like dim-pointed stripes beneath the surface, and 

 darting away and scattering outwards, like a flight 

 of arrows, at any person's approach. Walking 

 along the river bank one day, when the place 

 was still new to me, I discovered a stream, and 

 following it up arrived at a spot where a clump 

 of trees overhung the water, casting on It a deep 

 shade. On the other side of the stream butter- 



