162 FOREIGN BIRDS. 



and rest : it deters the approach of the most ferocious, 

 and man and his charge abide unharmed when sur- 

 rounded by the terror he has raised. In addition to the 

 many characters given as a definition of man, we might 

 call him a fire-producing creature. 



The end of our summer months, and the autumnal 

 season, afford us frequently the best periods for observ- 

 ing some of our occasional visiting birds. Upon their first 

 arrival, and for a time afterwards, their notes announce 

 their presence ; but they are not always to be seen with 

 satisfaction, and scattered in retired places, or occupied 

 in the business of incubation, when they are particularly 

 wary and suspicious, they are but casually noticed : but 

 in the times above stated, our gardens, shrubberies, and 

 orchards, become their resort, seeking for the fruits 

 usually produced in those places. And, first, the petty- 

 chaps, with all her matured brood, is certain to be 

 found, feeding voraciously upon our cultivated berries, 

 or mining a hole in the fig or jargonel pear ; and so in- 

 tent are they upon this occupation, that they will permit 

 a reasonable examination of their form and actions, but 

 at other periods it is difficult to approach them. The 

 blackcap discontentedly flits about our inclosures and 

 thickets all the summer through, building her nest or 

 tending her young ; the fine clear harmony of the male 

 bird resounding in the morning from the brake, yet, 

 timid and alarmed, he ceases and hides himself if we 

 approach : but he now introduces all his progeny to our 

 banquet ; cautious still, we can yet observe his actions, 

 and easily distinguish the black or brown heads of the 

 sexes, as they are occupied beneath the foliage of an 

 Antwerp raspberry. The white-throats, now, too, leave 

 their hedges, and all their insect food, which for months 

 had been their only supply, and in the thick covert of 

 the gooseberry extract with great dexterity the pulp of 

 the fruit, or strip the currant of its berry. The elegant, 

 slender form of the female, her snowy throat and silvery 

 stomach, render her very conspicuous as she scuttles 

 away to hide herself in the bush: her plain, brown- 

 backed mate seems rather less timid, but yet carefully 

 avoids all symptoms of familiarity. Other doubtful liMo 





