JUNE. 163 



and are feeding their vociferous young in every pas- 

 ture, and under every green tree. The swallow and 

 swift are careering in the clear skies, and 



Ten thousand insects in the air abound, 



Flitting on glancing wings that yield a summer sound. 



WIFFEN. 



The havoc that is made amongst the broods of 

 young birds at this season all over this kingdom, but 

 especially in the neighbourhood of populous towns, is 

 truly melancholy. The mere taking of birds' eggs 

 may possibly find some excuse in the plea of keeping 

 down the number of birds ; but the wanton destruc- 

 tion of the helpless and innocent young ones, is an 

 evil feature in our youthful population, and a most 

 striking evidence of that want of culture of the 

 moral sensibilities in the working class, which is a 

 disgrace to this nation. No one is accustomed to 

 walk the fields at this time of the year, whose feel- 

 ings are not tortured by the cruelty that is every 

 where going on. Troops of boys and young men 

 are traversing the fields in all directions, on Sundays 

 and holidays, dragging out every nest they can find, 

 from no motive but the indulgence of an idle and 

 brutal recklessness. You meet them with nests full 

 of littte downy, half-fledged creatures, that are gaping 

 and uttering continuous chirpings, or rather sobs and 

 sighs, full of a sense of their misery, and which you 

 know will cease only with their lives. Many are 

 carried home, and stuffed with improper food till 



