OF HARTING. 265 



every disposition, however, to make the most of this 

 curious incident, we cannot ignore the probability 

 that two or three rival pairs of these birds had been 

 engaged in the performance, and if so, the valour of 

 the first comer must have been often and sorely put 

 to the test in the defence of his hearth and home. 



The Magpie (Pica melanolencd] and the Jay (Gar- 

 rulus Glandarius) are important and beautiful mem- 

 bers of our feathered community, and would no doubt 

 be more numerous than they are in the woods and 

 covers, if they were capable of disregarding the allure- 

 ments ostentatiously thrown in their way by the 

 keepers. For the jay particularly they are careful to 

 erect, in a conveniently open part of the underwood, 

 a small platform supported by slender rods, on which 

 they know how to conceal a gin baited with eggs of 

 the blackbird or thrush. This device has naturally 

 been suggested by the jay's well-known habit of 

 plundering the nests of smaller birds, and many an 

 innocent " squab " has it been the means of saving 

 from a premature end. Every one knows that both 

 the magpie and jay, when tamed, are frequently taught 

 to articulate words and sentences more or less dis- 

 tinctly ; the latter bird especially, even in an un- 

 domesticated state, has so often been heard to imitate 

 the notes and cries of other birds, that by some 

 naturalists it has been called the " British Mocking 

 Bird." In the Starling (Sturnus guttatus), which is 

 another of our commonest birds, this talent is remark- 

 ably developed also, and we have heard it almost daily 

 and at all seasons, with the exception of a short 

 interval in winter, introducing into its own apology 

 for a song variations from the rook, the jackdaw, the 

 blackbird, the thrush, the house sparrow, the yaffle, 

 the lapwing, and, occasionally, the whistling donkey- 

 boy. It is no uncommon thing to meet with highly- 

 educated starlings capable of whistling one or two 

 simple airs in a very pleasing style; but perhaps many 



