202 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XIV. 



acti," complains that the whole country is spoilt by 

 " drainings and improvements," which banish the 

 wild-fowl from their former haunts. 



When the frogs begin to croak in the pools and 

 ditches the mallards are sure to be found in these 

 places every evening and morning. 



23 c?. — Nunc avis in ramo tecta laremque parat. 

 The wood-pigeons are building in the shrubberies 

 close to the window. 



How beautifully the different birds are con- 

 structed for their different modes of feeding ! The 

 tender nerves at the end of the bills of the wood- 

 cock, snipe, and curlew, enable them to find their 

 food under ground as correctly as if it were 

 within full view. The oyster-catcher can detach 

 from the rock and break up mussels and other 

 shellfish. The oyster-catcher, by the by, can have 

 little to do with oysters except in name, for strong 

 as he is, he could scarcely manage to find his living 

 if condemned to feed on oysters alone. The bill of 

 the merganser and other birds of that kind is per- 

 fectly adapted, by means of its curved teeth, to 

 hold their slippery prey, while the inward sloping 

 plates in the wild-duck's bill are equally suited for 

 retaining the small worms, etc., on which they feed. 

 The carrion-feeding ravens and other birds of that 

 class have a most perfect and powerful weapon in 



