FEBRUARY. 17 



Leaving the Newts and coming to the Dragon Flies, it is interesting 

 to note that there are no less than 46 species in our Island, and 160 

 species of Caddis Flies ! 



6th. Very frosty, but snow nearly gone. Robin at the meat bone 

 hung up in the garden. 



Has the reader ever noticed the predatory character of the Rook? 

 Just recently I observed a couple of these birds watching carefully a 

 crowd of noisy chirruping House Sparrows, who were quarrelling over 

 a crust of bread one of their number had carried from a neighbouring 

 backyard. The two sagacious Rooks for a time hovered Hawk-like in 

 the air, and then settled on a low hedge hard by the smaller birds. 

 Presently one of the Sparrows made off from the rest with the coveted 

 prize, and immediately one of the Rooks pounced down and snatched 

 away the tit-bit, devouring it with evident self-satisfaction. 



10th. Very wintry, and another fall of snow. The papers say it 

 is the deepest fall we have had in the South, since January, 1887 

 Skating to-day in full swing. 

 This afternoon I amused myself 

 for an hour or more watching the 

 various birds which came and 

 fed on a lump of suet, which 

 had been placed in the fork 

 of my Grand Duke Plum tree. 

 At one time there were six 

 Starlings, fighting and scrambling 

 after the precious morsel, and 

 one rough old gentleman took 

 possession and ate continuously 

 for twenty-five minutes, and even 

 then seemed disposed to keep on. STARLING. 



Several Sparrows kept flying on to 



the tree, and one or two of the more pugnacious ones got dangerously 

 near the mimic, but a snap from that dagger was quite sufficient for 

 our cheeky and impudent little friend. Presently one or two more 

 Starlings arrived, and there was a regular tussle as to who was to have 

 possession, and in their clumsy flutterings they knocked down the prize 

 to the ground. This frightened them somewhat, they evidently 

 thought it was a trap alter all, and that it was judicious to keep a safe 

 distance. But the Sparrows were after it, trap or no trap, and the 

 Starlings, not to be outdone by an insignificant Avian-rat, summed up 

 courage, and made short work of the remains, each making off with a 



