OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS. 



BIRDS IN GENERAL. 



IN severe weather, fieldfares, red-wings, 

 sky-larks, and tit-larks, resort to watered 

 meadows for food ; the latter wades up to 

 its belly in pursuit of the pupae of insects, 

 and runs along upon the floating grass and 

 weeds. Many gnats are on the snow near 

 the water, these support the birds in part. 



Birds are much influenced in their choice 

 of food by colour, for though white cur- 

 rants are a much sweeter fruit than red, 

 yet they seldom touch the former till they 

 have devoured every bunch of the latter. 



Red-starts, fly-catchers, and black-caps, 

 arrive early in April. If these little deli- 

 cate beings are birds of passage (as we have 



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