Birds. 6921 



received the attentions of her amorous suitor ; but gradually lier shyness wore away, 

 and the pair were duly smitten with each other, or, in bird parlance, " paired.'' The 

 birds were usually confined in a large wicker cage. As time wore on, Mrs. Mag- 

 pie wished to take upon herself the duties of a family, and) both birds commenced 

 building a huge fabric of sticks within the cage. They went into the neighbouring 

 gardens and fields and collected mud and sticks, which they brought to it; but 

 a difficulty sometimes presented itself; the brought materials proved too large for 

 admission into the cage. Bird ingenuity, however, suggested many novel devices to 

 accomplish the end, and when not successful the owner of one of the birds gave them 

 a little assistance. At last the roof-tree was put to the fabric, and it was " papered" 

 with the most approved ornithological lining. Mrs. Magpie then deposited four eggs 

 therein, two of which were duly hatched, and the young reared. But the fate of most 

 pets awaited them ; being guilty of numerous breaches of the correct principle 

 of 7neum and tuuin, they were brought to trial, and finally condemned to forfeit their 

 lives for their offences — an unfortunate termination to a pretty ornithological drama. 

 —Id. 



Ornithological Notes from Norfolk : unusual Number of Haivfinches. — These sin- 

 gular birds have visited us, during the late severe weather, in far larger numbers than 

 I have ever known before. Every winter brings a few specimens to be classed 

 amongst the rarer visitants during frost and snow; but since the first week in Decem- 

 ber, 1859, I have seen upwards of thirty hawfinches, most of them in beautiful 

 plumage, at one bird-preserver's in this city, brought in, from time to time, from all 

 parts of the county. Besides these I have heard of several others that have been 

 noticed frequenting lawns and gardens, exhibiting during the intense cold but little 

 of their peculiar shyness, and happily escaping that indiscriminate slaughter which 

 must have sadly thinned their ranks. The kingfishers in this neighbourhood have 

 also suffered severely this season. During the intense frost between the 12th and 24th 

 of December, when the rivers, drains and water-courses of every kind were thickly 

 frozen, more than twenty of these beautiful little creatures, from one locality only, 

 were brought into Norwich to be stuffed. Most of them were shot close to the water- 

 mills, where the open, water caused by the action of the flushes afforded the only 

 chance of obtaining their finny prey ; and several were picked up dead on the ice, 

 frozen hard and stiff, and apparently starved to death. In one instance a kingfisher 

 was seen to pitch down close to the bank of the river, and, rising again, fly off to a 

 rail close by. The person watching this bird saw it attempt to swallow something, 

 when it suddenly fell over backwards and was picked up dead. On being examined 

 afterwards it was found to have boiled a small black shrew, which unusual morsel had 

 evidently caused its iintimely end, but showed how hard pressed these poor birds must 

 Lave been for their natural food. The large number thus met with in one district is 

 accounted for by the migratory arrivals that undoubtedly occur on our coasts during 

 the autumn and winter. T have not heard of any more waxwings since my last notice, 

 and have only heard of one small flock of crossbills having been seen, of which a pair 

 were shot on the 5lh of January. During the heavy gales in December several little 

 auks were picked np dead in various places along the coast, but none, as is sometimes 

 the case, far inland. A few days since, however, a solitary dunlin sandpiper was 

 picked up dead under the telegraph wires at Cringleford, about a mile and a half 

 from Norwich. This wandering Tringa, thus strangely out of his latitude, was pro- 

 bably dashed against the wires during the gale, having been carried away more than 

 XVIII. s 



