12 BRITISH BIRDS 



finished and the owners may occupy it with satisfac- 

 tion. Then follows an account of patient incubation 

 and hatching of eggs, and busy feeding and rearing of 

 young birds. The means which some parent birds 

 employ to mislead boys and dogs (or, to be accurate, 

 ' swains and spaniels ') away from their treasure are 

 happily described as a ' pious fraud ' : 



Should some rude foot 



Their woody haunts molest, with stealthy wing 

 Amid a neighbouring bush they silent drop, no 



And whirring thence, as if alarmed, deceive 

 The unfeeling schoolboy. Hence, around the head 

 Of wandering swain the white- winged plover wheels 

 Her sounding flight, and then directly on 

 In long excursion skims the level lawn 

 To tempt him from her nest. The wild duck, hence, 

 O'er the rough moss, and o'er the trackless waste 

 The heath-hen flutters (pious fraud!) to lead 

 The hot pursuing spaniel far astray. 



Teaching At last comes the education of the fledgelings in iso 

 the young ^e ar ^ Q flight an( j ^he manner o f self -maintenance, 

 until, having made conquest of the air, they are 

 directed, gently but firmly, to settlements beyond the 

 parental area and influence. It is the same with all 

 birds that have to do for themselves, alike song-birds 

 and birds of prey. The bird of prey, whether eagle 

 or raven, as soon as his young are severally fit to raise 

 a kingdom or a household of their own, drives them 

 from his own craggy fortress. Even the gentle song- 

 bird is equally insistent on the departure of his 190 

 progeny as soon as they can manage for themselves : 



The acquitted parents see their soaring race, 

 And, once rejoicing, never know them more. 



