236 ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



Only observation could have revealed the fact that little 

 song-birds can be attracted by the sight of a bird of prey. 

 A common chicken-hawk will serve that purpose. Fasten 

 a tame hawk to a bush, and before the end of an hour all 

 the finches and thrushes of the township will find it out 

 and meet in general convention, an indignation-meeting, 

 perhaps ; though it is hard to understand what they can 

 hope to accomplish against an enemy who could kill a 

 score of them in ten minutes. A priori, their proceed- 

 ings would seem as incredible as an assembly of mice 

 around a chained cat. But the experiment never fails : 

 a hawk, an eagle, but especially a ferocious-looking old 

 horn-owl, will allure birds at a time when they would 

 disdain to neglect their domestic business for the sake of 

 any tidbit. An owl-riot they seem to consider as a sort 

 of public duty which must take precedence of all other 

 affairs, for even migratory birds will stoop from their 

 flight through air and light to screech around an old 

 night-spectre. In Northern Italy, where game is scarce, 

 every farmer has a tame buba and a potful of birdlime, 

 and thousands of Northern songsters, hastening fondly 

 home from their winter-quarters on the Mediterranean, 

 fall a victim to their ruling passion and perish in exile, 

 "butchered to make a Roman holiday." 



