THE BITER BIT. 49 



with difficulty from the sea, and bearing in his 

 claws a large fish, with which he alighted near the 

 edge of the precipice. Running up hastily to the 

 spot, and perceiving the distress of the bird, 

 who appeared equally incapable of carrying off 

 his prize, or of disengaging himself from it, but 

 looked, as the boy expressed it, " as if he was 

 stuck in a trap," he disabled and subsequently 

 despatched him with his crook. I saw this speci- 

 men after it had been set up by a clever taxider- 

 mist,* who, to commemorate the particulars of its 

 capture, had mounted it on a large fish, with the 

 claws firmly imbedded in its scaly back. 



What a singular fate for any predacious animal 

 to meet with when obeying the dictates of what 

 has been called " an unerring instinct !" Acci- 

 dents of this kind are doubtless of rare occur- 

 rence, and may be placed in the same category 



* Mr. Swaysland, of Brighton, who has done much 

 within the last few years to elevate the character of his art. 

 From a correct knowledge of the proportions and attitudes 

 of birds the result of out-door observation he succeeds 

 in restoring to each its peculiar form and expression. In- 

 deed, his specimens exhibit a life-like spirit which I have 

 never seen surpassed, and contrast advantageously with 

 those unhappy families of woodpeckers and kingfishers 

 which one sometimes sees trying to stand in impossible 

 attitudes within the shop-window of the ordinary bird- 

 stufler. 



