220 



KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



public service, and by no means overpaid. We 

 are no advocates for a " Pension List," but we 

 delight in getting our living by the "sweat of 

 our brow." As did our ancestors, so do we. 

 When you write again, pray send your address.] 



Migration of Insects. — If such of your corre- 

 spondents as are interested in this subject will 

 refer to Volume 80 of " Constable's Miscellany " 

 (Butterflies, Vol. 3), they will therein find a 

 variety of extracts referring to the question, that 

 will give them much pleasure in perusal. I am 

 fully as anxious as your other readers to know 



more and more about this T. G. W., Ken- 



nington. 



[We thank you much for the above, and also 

 for other information conveyed to us. We shall 

 be glad of you as an ally, and feel sure you will 

 be an efficient one, for your heart is in your 

 studies.] 



Anecdote of the Grey Wagtail. — The grey 

 wagtail {Motacilla boa?'ula) is a bird of rather 

 singular habits. One of this species has for the 

 last three winters regularly visited the back of 

 my house, flying and tapping at the windows a 

 great number of times every day. Its motive for 

 so doing I cannot make out. I have left the Avin- 

 dows open, but it will not come in; and though 

 its whole food is stated to be insects, we feed it 

 with small bread-crumbs daily, which it eats 

 with avidity. It is quite tame. It always makes 

 its appearance about the latter end of October, 

 and leaves us about the middle of February. I 

 have not the slightest doubt that it is the same 

 bird that visits us every season. — J. K., Trow- 

 bridge. 



Our " Correspondence " becoming daily more 

 voluminous, we entreat our kind contributors to 

 exercise a little of that Christian virtue — Patience. 

 Their favors will have the earliest possible 

 attention paid them. — En. K. J. 



BIRDS OF SONG IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 



[Concluded from page 206.] 



This Case now comes on for a further 

 hearing. Perhaps few trials have ever 

 excited greater interest. The report is 

 copied, as we acknowledged last week, from 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle^ — first-rate au- 

 thority : — 



Case of " The Skylark ; " a Demurrer, and 

 Motion for a New Trial. — When a man has a 

 friend whom he dearly loves, how natural is 

 it for him to plead earnestly in his friend's 

 behalf when he hears him spoken against — par- 

 ticulaidy when he is, or is supposed to be, innocent 

 of the crime laid to his charge ! In this latter 

 belief, I confess I recently espoused the cause of 

 the hapless skylark, imagining him to be guilt- 

 less of chewing the cud of the young germinating 

 Wheat, Peas, &c, — at all events with so alarm- 

 ing an appetite, clearly indicative of his having 

 what we English call " the wolf "in his stomach. 

 Since however "A Shilmalier " returns to the 

 charge with redoubled energy, and with multi- 



plied grievances, and is now moreover backed by 

 another highly respectable "witness," Mr. J. 

 Foreman, of Montrose, — the " trial " assumes 

 some importance. It is now "Ireland and Scot- 

 land v. England," with heavy odds against the 

 latter. Unfortunately I, who represent in my 

 humble person this " Land of the Brave," am at 

 present unable to "prove my case." I am no 

 farmer; never followed the plough; never de- 

 tected, never read, never heard of skylarks living 

 in spring-time on salads of delicate, succulent 

 Wheat-grass; never fired at, nor shot these 

 "rogues in grain," when so detected; nor disem- 

 bowelled them afterwards to find " damning 

 proof " concealed within to tell of such moral 

 guilt. All I can conscientiously do therefore, is 

 to speak what I know of their general character; 

 of the "high" position they hold in the world at 

 large — I have already done so; and to throw 

 myself on the mercy of the court. However, sub 

 judice adhuc lis est. 7W witnesses only Iiave ap- 

 peared ; and they represent Scotland and Ireland. 

 I have only advocated as yet, the cause of the 

 English Lark, believing him honest, and like 

 the rook — the farmer's best of friends. Let but a 

 respectable witness for England appear against 

 me, and the verdict, alas ! must be for the 

 plaintiffs. I hope, however, it will not be with 

 "immediate execution;" but that "judgment 

 may be respited until next term," (the larks — 

 many of them I fear, will be spitted by your two 

 zealously-affected correspondents, before they are 

 respited by the judges!) "A Shilmalier" and 

 Mr. Foreman are both such pleasant gentlemen, 

 and write so well and so good-naturedly withal, 

 that it is impossible to feel otherwise than friendly 

 towards them, or to gainsay what they so clearly 

 assert. They state their grievances very fairly, 

 and as Mr. Foreman facetiously remarks, pay 

 perhaps rather " dearly for their whistle." But 

 what a whistle! Was ever any whistle heard like 

 unto it? Never! And yet surely the voices of the 

 larks which inhabit the corn-fields of Ireland and 

 Scotland cannot equal those we are accustomed 

 to hear in " merrie England!" Surely not; or 

 a few extra bushels of Wheat — now said by the 

 farmers to be " worth nothing " — would never be 

 a consideration of importance. The dissentients 

 shall soon hear our English lark, and judge for 

 themselves. " A Shilmalier " hints that he will 

 pay a visit anon, to our " World's Great Fair;" 

 and that while in our gay city he will honor me 

 with a friendly call. Of course he will. I shall 

 fully expect him, and greet him with a hearty 

 welcome on his arrival. Let Mr. Foreman fol- 

 low suit in this goodly move; and let us all three, 

 over wine and Walnuts, Pine-apples and sherry 

 cobbler, argue once more, deliberately, humanely, 

 and philosophically, the case of the poor skylark 

 — Heaven's special favorite ! Not longer ago 

 than Sunday last, as I stretched far away 

 among the Surrey Hills, I saw my protege, crest 

 erect, 



" From his moist cabinet mount up on high ; " 



and the music he discoursed was so eloquent, that 

 I thought if "A Shilmalier" was by my side, I 

 could have converted him. Indeed I question, 

 if I read his character aright, whether his "spring 

 crops of Wheat, Kye,Oats,Barley, Beans, Peas, and 



