AFFLICTED WITH LOCK-JAW. 3? 9 



and the other apartments ; but from whence, if discovered, 

 she was always expelled, by reason of the very disagreeable 

 mementos she left behind her. The attacks of dogs she 

 easily repulsed ; and cats of themselves always took care 

 to keep out of her way. Towards children more espe- 

 cially mischievous boys she evinced great dislike, and 

 bristling up would retreat from them backwards with open 

 bill. The lad, however, who tended the cattle, stood specially 

 high in her favour, because he, on his return home of an 

 evening, constantly played with her. On these occasions he 

 would throw his cap into the air, and dance a sort of jig, 

 which she, with distended wings and long leaps, always 

 attempted to mimic to the great amusement of the lookers- 

 on. Between the gardener and herself, on the contrary, 

 there was constant enmity ; for the reason that she was in 

 the habit of plucking up the bulbs out of the flower-beds, 

 some of which she would eat, and cast away others ; and 

 on his approach, therefore, she always made herself scarce. 

 But when other persons were in the garden, she would follow 

 the spade so closely in search of worms and roots, that one 

 would frequently imagine her neck to be in danger. She 

 would eat potatoes ; but when she happened to stick her bill 

 into an unusually large one, without succeeding in dividing 

 it, her mandibles became fixed together, as though she were 

 afflicted with lock-jaw. In this case to the delight of many 

 she was sorely perplexed, and had often to wait long, going 

 the while from the one to the other, before any person 

 thought fit to relieve her. Though one of her wings was in 

 degree clipped, she nevertheless managed towards the second 

 autumn to fly a little, and at times to pay visits to the 



