THE FEATHERED RACE. 153 



DUB ING the course of a life passed much in the 

 country,, and perambulating the woods, the hedges, 

 and the fields, I have contracted almost insensibly 

 an acquaintance with the creatures that frequent 

 them. Some have engaged my attention by their 

 actions and manners ; others have interested me by 

 their innocency, and the harmlessness of their lives ; 

 and; perhaps, there is some little partial bearing 

 toward others from long association, or from un- 

 known, undefined causes. I tolerate, in despite of 

 all their noise, and all their litter, a colony of rooks, 

 which have taken a liking to some tall elms near 

 my dwelling. Not being ancient denizens there, 

 they can claim no hereditary rights ; but their con- 

 trivances, their regularity, and even their squab- 

 bles, are amusing ; and, perhaps, there is mingled 

 with this some little compassion for these dark, 

 half-domesticated families of the grove, driven by 

 the axe from' an old abode, which may influence 

 my forbearance. 



: The hedge sparrow, or shufflewing, (motacilla 

 modularis,) is a prime favourite. Not influenced 

 by season or caprice to desert us, it lives in our 

 homesteads and our orchards through all the year, 

 our most domestic bird. In the earliest spring it 

 intimates to us by a low and plaintive chirp, and 

 that peculiar shake of the wing, which at all times 

 marks this bird, but then is particularly observable, 

 the approach of the breeding season ; for it appears 



