NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



of taking the last-named to some favour- 

 ite stone, where they hammer the shell 

 until it is sufficiently fractured to enable 

 them to extract the luscious morsel in- 

 side. These stones are known as 

 " Thrushes' Anvils." Occasionally when 

 they find a snail with a house upon its 

 back too hard and strong to be broken 

 in this way, they carry it to some height 

 in the air and drop it on a flag or other 

 hard substance. The shell is thus frac- 

 tured, and the sensible captor descends 

 and devours its prey. The bird also 

 takes its share of fruit, and without any 

 consideration for the good it does during 

 the greater part of the year, is ruthlessly 

 slain by gardeners, who might, in the 

 great majority of instances, use netting 

 instead of shot to the advantage of both 

 fruit trees and birds. 



When I hear a garden-loving neigh- 

 bour's gun going off, I frequently think 

 of the poet's compassionate appeal : 



" Scare, if ye will, his timid wing away, 

 But oh, let not the leaden viewless shower, 

 Vollied from flashing tube, arrest his flight, 

 And fill his tuneful, gasping bill with blood." 



The members of this species that stay 

 with us throughout the winter months, 

 when not regaling our ears with their 



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