THE HOME OF A NATURALIST. 298 



feel that their homes were securely guarded by a waU 

 not one fourth so high as their trees, and which they 

 could overpass without the least difficulty The azure- 

 backed and ruddy-breasted kingfisher finds a congenial 

 home on the banks, though driven from the surround- 

 ing country by the cruel gun, and lays its pearl-like 

 eggs in their bony nest, or flashes like a blue meteor 

 along the shore in happy immunity from the dread tube 

 that awaits it without the protecting wall. Feeling 

 themselves perfectly secure, the birds act with the full 

 freedom of their natures, and, unaffected by the presence 

 of an observer, perform all the duties of life, play their 

 pretty pranks, and exhibit their individuality as uncon- 

 cernedly as if they were in a desert island where the 

 foot of man had never trod. 



The opportunities of gaining knowledge on such 

 subjects are therefore unequalled, and great benefits 

 have been conferred on the world by the information 

 that has been obtained. Putting aside the interesting 

 character of the pursuit, and the gratification which it 

 affords to the observer, its results have been of practical 

 utility. By a long series of useful observations the 

 imputations under which many birds laboured have 

 been entirely disproved, and in many cases a bird which 

 was systematically persecuted and slain by the farmer 

 has been shown to be a positive friend to its ignorant 

 mmrderer. Such birds, for example, as the rook and 

 crow have been proved to confer immense benefits on 

 the agriculturist by devouring the subterranean larvae, 



