140 BIRD NOTES 



its bread, and they did not peck it. At last, when 

 all had gone, another nuthatch came and pecked 

 at it, and sent the little thing away, bread and all. 

 It is the child oH the old tame chaffinch. 



The other day a fine blackbird flopped sud- 

 denly down on the window-sill. He was bold and 

 eager, looked me all over, and evidently thought 

 nothing of me, though he was close to the window. 

 He packed his beak as full as he could, and pro- 

 ceeded to feed a young one that was sitting crying 

 for food, on the edge of the verandah, and then 

 away they both went. Presently I was recalled to 

 the window by the clattering of the plate on which 

 I put the bacon, and there I found the hen black- 

 bird at work. She took every fragment that she 

 could stuff into her beak and tried a long time to 

 get in more, and gave a wicked stab with it, all 

 the same, at a poor chaffinch who wanted his 

 share. She evidently ' looked before,' and knew 

 that when she came again the plate would be 

 empty, as it proved to be. Then her instinct was 

 at fault ; for she seemed to think that if pecked 

 and stamped and stabbed at long enough, the 

 plate would at last yield up more bacon. She 

 flapped and danced and stamped and tugged till 

 at last she dragged it off the sill, and away it 

 went, down the verandah roof and on to the lawn. 

 The bird flew away, very much alarmed' the bird 



