180 HAMPSHIRE DAYS 



could very well have wiped on any branch or barn-roof 

 or fence, and saved himself that tremendous labour ! 



It was an extreme instance of the tyrannous effect 

 of habit on a wild animal. Doubtless this bird had 

 been accustomed, after devouring his first mouse, to 

 fly to the vane, where he could rest for a few minutes, 

 taking a general view of the place, and wipe his beak 

 at the same time ; and the habit had become so strong 

 that he could not forego his visit even on so tem- 

 pestuous an evening. His beak, if he had wiped it 

 anywhere but on that lofty cross-bar, would not have 

 seemed quite clean. 



At Selborne, in the garden at the Wakes, I noticed 

 a pair of pied wagtails busy nest-building in the ivy 

 on the wall. One of the birds flew up to the roof of 

 the house, where, I suppose, he caught sight of a fly 

 in an upper window which looked on to the roof, for 

 all at once he rose up and dashed against the pane 

 with great force ; and as the glass pane hit back with 

 equal force, he was thrown on to the tiles under the 

 window. Nothing daunted, he got up and dashed 

 against the glass a second time, with the same result. 

 The action was repeated five times, then the poor 

 baffled bird withdrew from the contest, and, drawing 

 in his head, sat hunched up for two or three minutes 

 perfectly motionless. The volatile creature would not 

 have sat there so quietly if he had not hurt himself 

 rather badly. 



One more of the amusing incidents witnessed during 



