176 FACULTIES OF BIRDS. 



periods when the grub of the chafer is to be found ; 

 and in a hot day we see the poor birds perambulating 

 the fields, and wandering by the sides of the high- 

 ways, seeking for and feeding upon grasshoppers, or 

 any casual nourishment that may be found. At those 

 times, was it not for its breakfast of dew-worms, 

 which it catches in the gray of the morning, as it is 

 appointed the earliest of risers, it would be famished. 

 In the hot summer of 1825 many of the young brood 

 of the season perished from want; the mornings 

 were without dew, and consequently few or no worms 

 were to be obtained ; and we found them dead under 

 the trees, having expired on their roostings. It was 

 particularly distressing, for no relief could be given, 

 to hear the constant clamour and importunity of 

 the young for food. The old birds seemed to suffer 

 without complaint ; but the wants of their offspring 

 were expressed by the unceasing cry of hunger and 

 pursuit of their parents for supply, and our fields were 

 scenes of daily restlessness and lament. Yet amid 

 all this distress, it was pleasing to observe the per- 

 severance of the old birds in the endeavour to relieve 

 their famishing families, as many of them remained 

 out searching for food quite in the dusk, and returned 

 to their roosts long after the usual period of retiring. 

 In this extremity it becomes a plunderer, to which by 

 inclination it is not much addicted, and resorts to 

 our newly-set potato fields, digging out the cuttings. 

 Ranks are seen sadly defective, the result of its la- 

 bours, I fear ; and the request of my neighbours now 

 and then for a bird from my rookery, to hang up in 

 terrorem in their fields, is confirmatory of its bad 

 name. In autumn a ripe pear or walnut becomes 

 an irresistible temptation, and it will occasionally 

 obtain a good share of these fruits. In hard frost it 

 is pinched again, visits for food the banks of streams, 

 and in conjunction with its congener the ' villain 



