1? HISTORY OF 



cise that, without teaching, all this tribe are but 

 too fond of. Every body knows what a passion 

 they have for shining substances, and such toys 

 as some of us put a value upon. A whole family 

 has been alarmed at the loss of a ring; every 

 servant has been accused, and every creature in 

 the house, conscious of their own innocence, 

 suspected each other, when, to the utter surprise 

 of all, it has been found in the nest of a tame 

 magpie or a jackdaw that nobody had ever 

 thought of. 



However, as this class is very numerous, it is 

 not to be supposed that the manners are alike in 

 all. Some, such as the pigeon, are gentle and 

 serviceable to man ; others are noxious, caprici- 

 ous, and noisy. In a few general characters they 

 all agree ; namely, in having hoarse voices, slight 

 active bodies, and a facility of flight that baffles 

 even the boldest of the rapacious kinds in the 

 pursuit. I will begin with those birds which 

 most properly may be said to belong to this class, 

 and go on till I finish with the pigeon, a harmless 

 bird, that resembles this tribe in little else except 

 their size, and that seems to be the shade uniting 

 the pie and the sparrow kind into one general 

 picture. 



It is not to be expected that in this sketch of 

 the great magazine of nature we can stop singly 

 to contemplate every object. To describe the 

 number that offers would be tedious, and the si- 

 militude that one bears another would make the 

 history disgusting. As an historian, in relating 

 the actions of some noble people, does not stop 



