THE STORMCOCK. 255 



close to the masons. The male bird instantly came 

 up, and rescued his mate, by fighting the magpie, 

 until he made it let go its hold. " Causa viae conjux." 

 It was to save his female that he advanced so un- 

 dauntedly into the midst of his mortal enemies: 

 nothing else could have induced him to face the 

 danger. I fancy that I hear him say 



- " Si fata negant veniam pro conjuge, cert urn est, 

 Nolle redire mihi : letho gaudete duorum." 



" If you won't give my poor dear up to me, here I 

 stay ; you may kill us both." This loving couple 

 retired triumphant to their nest; but the female lost 

 half of her tail in the fray. 



The stormcock surpasses all other thrushes in 

 size, and is decidedly the largest songster of the 

 European birds. He remains with us the whole of 

 the year ; and he is one of three birds which charm 

 us with their melody during the dreary months of 

 winter, when the throstL^ and the lark are silent, 

 and all the migratory birds have left us, to sojourn 

 in warmer climates. On this account I prize him 

 doubly. He appears to be gregarious in the months ' ^^ 

 of August and September. I have occasionally 

 counted from forty to fifty of these birds in a flock ; ' 



and I suspect that they are sometimes mistaken for fa, 

 an early arrival of fieldfares, by those who pay atten- 

 tion to the migration of birds. 



The stormcock is remarkably fond of the berries 

 of the rnountain-ash. He who loves to see this 

 pretty songster near his dwelling would do well to 

 plant a number of mountain-ashes in the midst of 



