SINGING BIRDS. 327 



It is needless to add that these foul but useful birds 

 are generally protected by law, and to kill or injure 

 one of them would excite universal indignation : a fact 

 of which these birds seem well aware, as they stand in 

 no fear of man. 



These instances of birds which take up their abode 

 with man are readily accounted for, because they live 

 upon the fallen grain and other refuse thrown out from 

 his dwellings; but proceeding to the heart of the 

 wilderness we are still met by other species which for 

 various reasons love the society of mankind. Song 

 birds for instance, as a rule make their haunt in the 

 vicinity of villages and human places of abode. 



It is a mistake sometimes made to suppose the 

 wilderness is seldom enlivened by the song of the 

 bird ; almost every country has its beautiful songsters, 

 and these as we have stated, as a rule seem to prefer 

 the companionship of man as a neighbour. 



The great Dr. Livingstone for instance, during his 

 African travels, did not fail to note this fact : "Birds 

 of song (he states) are not entirely confined to the 

 villages; but have in Africa so often been observed 

 to congregate around villages, that when we approach 

 the haunts of men, we know the time of the singing 

 of birds is come." * 



African bird life contains a good many varieties of 

 beautiful songsters and in the Algerian Sahara we 

 have noticed a thing we have never remarked in 

 Europe, namely that the common swallow, concerning 

 whose extraordinary migrations we have already spoken, 

 is there a beautiful singing bird. We once occupied 

 a large room in a village, and through the open win- 



* Expedition to the Zambesi, by David Livingstone, pub. 1865, p. 65. 



