Birds by Land and Sea 



There was once a pheasant which had partly 

 hatched off its eggs in the middle of a grass field. 

 When the hay was got in, a small patch was left 

 uncut out of consideration for the sitting bird. 

 The rooks from a neighbouring rookery developed 

 such a strong attachment for the spot, that it was with 

 surprise that it was noticed one morning that they 

 had all disappeared. So had everything else except 

 the shells ! 



Whatever lapses the magpie may be guilty of, she 

 procures her food principally upon the ground, and 

 when thus engaged searching for grubs, worms, and 

 the like, is a very interesting object. Her antics 

 while feeding are often such as to convey the im- 

 pression that the bird is showing off before some 

 unseen onlooker, and it is only when one afterwards 

 reflects that they are the spontaneous expression of 

 its own character, that one realizes how extremely 

 capricious that character is. For there is, in fact, an 

 intensity in its waywardness which makes it some- 

 thing more than mere caprice. It recalls the wagtails 

 by its sudden tackings to right and left ; by the 

 manner in which it darts forward a short way, then 

 draws up at once, and as rapidly swings round to the 

 rear, as if it had been startled by something seen 

 through the back of its head. The vicious dig of 

 its beak into the ground is truly corvine, but the 

 long tail that rises simultaneously and is sustained at 

 an acute angle, reminds one of the blackbird recover- 

 ing his balance after alighting on a hedgetop. Not 



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