150 (RJifMBLES OF A VOMINIS 



A restless crew it is that gathers on the grass, never 

 for an instant still, all their energies intent upon the 

 business of the moment. They are mostly silent, save 

 perhaps for a faint chatter as they settle down, or short 

 alarm note when the troop is scattered by a passing step. 

 The harmony is only broken when some old campaigner 

 is seen to hurry off with a rather larger crumb than 

 usual. There is food enough for all ; but on the instant 

 he is chased by communistic comrades, who, talking all 

 at once, seek volubly to prove their rights, and if it is 

 not too late enforce their arguments by a high-handed 

 redistribution which shall bring the guilty plunderer 

 down to the level of his brothers. 



The starlings are rather a quarrelsome set. Indeed, 

 with all the birds that come it is a case of " Each man 

 for himself ; and no man for his neighbour." It is quite 

 a common thing for one starling to lay claim to two 

 bones, lying some little way apart, and to keep off any 

 starving comrade that may dare to venture near. Some- 

 times two rival claimants, after doing battle on the ground 

 with beak and claw, will rise into the air screaming, 

 fluttering, and fighting, until the weaker bird gives in. 

 The robin, too, is apt to regard the window sill and all 

 upon it as his own exclusive property, as many a bold tit 

 and easy-going greenfinch has discovered to his cost. 

 Larger birds will seldom venture near. A passing magpie 

 may perhaps turn back and circle over, as if half inclined 

 to join the company ; but they are too near the house 

 for a bird with such a character as his. He sheers off 

 again and makes for the safer cover of the woods. A 



