112 HISTORY OF 



an end ; the family parts for ever, each to esta- 

 blish a little household of its own. It is easy to 

 distinguish these birds at a distance, not only 

 from their going in companies, but also from 

 their manner of flying, which is always up and 

 down, seldom direct or side- ways. 



Of these birds there are three or four different 

 kinds ; but the greater ash-coloured butcher-bird 

 is the least known among us. The red-backed 

 butcher-bird migrates in autumn, and does not 

 return till spring. The wood-chat resembles the 

 former, except in the colour of its back, which is 

 brown, and not red as in the other. There is 

 still another, less than either of the former, found 

 in the marshes near London. This too is a 

 bird of prey, although not much bigger than a 

 titmouse ; an evident proof that an animal's 

 courage or rapacity does not depend upon its 

 size. Of foreign birds of this kind there are 

 several ; but as we know little of their manner of 

 living, we will not, instead of history, substitute 

 mere description. In fact, the colours of a bird, 

 which is all we know of them, would afford a 

 reader but small entertainment in the enumera- 

 tion. Nothing can be more easy than to fill 

 volumes with the different shades of a bird's 

 plumage ; but these accounts are written with 

 more pleasure than they are read, and a single 

 glance of a good plate or a picture imprints a 

 juster idea than a volume could convey. 



