A Woodland Tkacikdy "j-j 



tlu- nature of tlicsc food-stores, wlitit' tlu' butchci- 

 bird lavs by meat for hinist-lf, liis mate, and his 

 imtledj^ed yoim<4. '''<-' larder is aKvavs sitnated 

 in tlie neij^libomhood of tlie nest, and tlie male 

 bird hunts for thes, bees, and other insects, wliile 

 tlie female sits on the es^j^s hard by. He eats a 

 few at once, to allay his lumj^er, spittinj^ them 

 iiist as a means of holdinj^ them ; but the j^reater 

 luunber he preserves alive upt)n the cruel thorns 

 for the use of his mate and his callow nestlinj^s. 

 " A^'s phrs iie fatiiillc," said Talleyrand, ''soul cop- 

 ablcs de Um*." And we may well exclaim, "Oh, 

 parental alfection, what crimes are perpetrated in 

 thv name I " 



The particular portion of the larder which 

 Mr. Knock has selected for representation con- 

 tains a Inunble-bee, two larj^e Hies, and a nestlinj^ 

 hedj^e-sparrow, stolen from its mother ; for the 

 butcher-bird does not wholly conline himself to 

 a diet of insects ; he is cannibal enonj^h to catch 

 and eat other birds, not to mention mice and such 

 small mammals. So lierce and savage is he wlun 

 on the hunt after provender, that he will even 

 spear and impale larj^er birds than himself, such 

 as blackbirds and thrushes. Xot content with 

 han^inj^ them on the thorns alive, he will fasten 

 down their le^s and wins^s bv an ingenious cross 

 arrangement of twij^s and branche^, so as to pre- 

 vent them from escapins^ ; f<-i- he does not so nnicli 

 desire to kill his prey, as to keep it alive till he 

 is ready to eat it or to distribute it to his familv. 

 He knows that dead birds soon decav ; and he 



