NATURAL HISTORY. 209 



nest. In the bottom it had bunches of cows' 

 hair, and these were also sewed down with 

 horse-hairs. This bird, boys, is a thief." 



"A thief, Uncle Philip! What does it 

 steal ?" 



" When I say it is a thief, boys, I mean that 

 it takes what does not belong to it : but it is 

 not a thief as man is. When a man takes 

 something which belongs to another person, he 

 knows that it is not his ; and therefore he 

 steals : but the poor bird does not know, and 

 that makes a diiference. You asked me what 

 it steals : I will tell you. At the time for 

 building its nest, it will take whatever suits 

 for that purpose ; and therefore the country 

 women are obliged to watch their thread that 

 they have put out to bleach : the farmer, too, 

 who has cut off young grafts from his fruit- 

 trees and tied them up in bundles, must be 

 careful, or the bird will pull at the string till 

 he gets it off ; and sometimes, when the bunch 

 is not too large, he will fly off with the whole. 

 In autumn, when the leaves have fallen, you 

 may sometimes see skeins of silk and hanks 

 of thread hanging about the starling's nest, 

 but so woven up and entangled in it that they 

 are good for nothing. Now, boys, before this 



