38 ON SURREY HILLS. 



head, and wings trailed, he croons away to his heart's 

 content. Now and then, when he gives himself 

 extra grand airs by jumping up and coming down 

 in a different position, he looks very like being half 

 choked with pleasure and self-satisfaction. We have 

 a combination of blue, purple, white, and the crimson 

 wattles over the eyes, brought up by the red-grey 

 of bark and the buff-white of the bare trunk. A 

 blue sky overhead and the velvet turf, littered over 

 here and there with blocks of moss-covered stone, 

 complete the picture. 



I could have looked at the birds for hours if it 

 had been possible, but my picture was spoilt by a 

 mischievous meddling magpie which had been fol- 

 lowing me in true magpie fashion at a distance, from 

 tree to tree, having evidently made up his mind that 

 my movements were suspicious. With a clacking 

 alarm-note he flew over the trees to the other side 

 of the glade ; and before he had gone half-way, the 

 Black Prince and his admirers had vanished like a 

 dream. 



No matter how the habits and form of the various 

 species may differ, all birds seem to understand a 

 warning cry. As I pass over the, green stripe, I start 



