UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 247 



nou nee their discovery by a low but particular 

 scream, and then all the family hastened to join 

 in the plunder. 



Their throat is so wide that they can swallow 

 beans, acorns, and even chesnuts whole ; and it is 

 said they can imitate various sounds, such as the 

 bleating of a lamb, the hooting of an owl, the 

 mewing of a cat, and even the neighing of a 

 horse. 



They appear to be fond of each other, but to 

 other birds they are very troublesome, destroying 

 their nests and eggs, and sometimes pouncing on 

 the young ones, to the great vexation of the 

 Lumleys. 



4th. Those poor travellers, whom more than 

 a month ago I told you that good Mrs. Ando 

 had so generously taken into her own house, have 

 been obliged to continue there ever since ; and 

 my aunt has two or three times driven to Newn- 

 ham to visit them. They have, you know, one 

 little child, but the man seems to be dying, and 

 his wife, a foreigner, nurses him with the most 

 tender care. They have told their history to my 

 aunt, and she has given me leave to relate it to 

 you. 



The young \voman is a Swiss, her name is Ma- 

 deleine, and her father was a merchant of Ge- 

 neva, where they lived in comfortable affluence* 

 till his wife died, His affliction on this occasion 



