STARLIiNGS QUICK TO LEARN. ' 203 



— kept loaded on the rack. The starlings, perhaps, are 

 making havoc of the thatch, tearing out straw by straw, 

 and working the holes in which they form their nests right 

 through, till in the upper story daylight is visible. When 

 the whistling and calling of the birds tell him they are 

 busy above, the owner slips quickly out with his gun, and 

 brings down three or four at once as they perch in a row 

 on the roof-tree. Or a labourer leaves a message that 

 there is a hare up in the meadow or some wild ducks have 

 settled in the brook. But men who have a gun always in 

 their hands rarely meet with a mishap. The starlings, by- 

 the-bye, soon learn the trick, and are cunning enough 

 to notice which door their enemy generally comes out at, 

 where he can get the best shot ; and the moment the 

 handle of that particular door is turned, off they go. 



The village blacksmith will tell you of more than one 

 narrow escape he has had with guns, and especially muzzle- 

 loaders, brought to him to repair. Perhaps a charge could 

 not be ignited through the foulness of the nipple, and the 

 breech had to be unscrewed in the vice ; now and then 

 the breech-piece was so tightly jammed that it could not 

 be turned. Once, being positively assured that there was 

 nothing but some dirt in the barrel and no powder, he 

 was induced to place it in the forge fire ; when — bang ! a 

 charge of shot smashed the window, and the burning coals 

 flew about in a fiery shower. In one instance a black- 

 smith essayed to clear out a barrel which had become 



