ON BIRDS. 347 



delight in a variety of plants, such as cabbage, 

 lettuce, endive, &c. and poultry pick much grass ; 

 while geese live for months together on commons by 

 grazing alone. 



" Nought is useless made :- 



On the barren heath 



The shepherd tends his flock, that daily crop 

 Their verdant dinner from the mossy turf 

 Sufficient: after them, the cackling goose, 

 Close grazer, finds wherewith to ease her want." 



PHILIP'S Cyder. 

 WHITE. 



That many graminivorous birds feed also on the 

 herbage, or leaves of plants, there can be no doubt : 

 partridges and larks frequently feed on the green 

 leaves of turnips, which give a peculiar flavour to 

 their flesh, that is, to me, very palatable : the flavour 

 also of wild ducks and geese greatly depends on the 

 nature of their food ; and their flesh frequently con- 

 tracts a rank unpleasant taste, from their having 

 lately fed on strong marshy aquatic plants, as I 

 suppose. 



That the leaves of vegetables are wholesome, and 

 conducive to the health of birds, seem probable, for 

 many people fat their ducks and turkeys with the 

 leaves of lettuce chopped small. MARKWICK. 



HEN-HARRIER. A neighbouring gentleman sprung 

 a pheasant in a wheat stubble, and shot at it ; when, 

 notwithstanding the report of the gun, it was imme- 

 diately pursued by the blue hawk, known by the 

 name of the hen-harrier, but escaped into some covert. 

 He then sprung a second, and a third, in the same 

 field, that got away in the same manner ; the hawk 

 hovering round him all the while that he was beating 

 the field, conscious, no doubt, of the game that lurked 

 in the stubble. Hence we may conclude, that this 



