
284 
would return to the same, or a proximate branch, 
and again anxiously watch one’s motions, in the 
hope no doubt of another miss on my part, which 
would be almost sure to be turned into “a decided 
hit” on its part. I have frequently seen specimens 
of the common humble bee transfixed upon thorns, 
evidently the work of these birds. In some in- 
stances I have met with them alive, in others 
dead ; but in all apparently deserted, as though, 
after capturing these insects, they had discovered 
they were useless to them as articles of food; or 
do they, as do our own venison-loving epicures, 
cousider their “ game” improved by being “‘ hung” 
till it has become “‘rather high?” or, to speak 
plainly and intelligibly, till, venison-like, it has 
become as nearly as possible an abominable mass 
of putrefaction ? I feel disposed, however, to give 
them credit for a less perverted and better taste 
than this, and therefore would infer that it is far 
more likely that they content themselves with 
merely picking out the honey-bag, and the moist 
internal parts, rejecting the dry and husky ex- 
terior, and so leaving it to be bleached by the 
sun, and winds, and rains, in like manner as in 
days of yore, the bodies of great criminals were 
left suspended, as an “ awful warning” to all mis- 
doers. 
I am aware that what I am about to relate will 
shed no lustre upon my character for‘humanity ; 
but my excuse is, that I was at the time in want 
of specimens as a medium of exchange with an 
American gentleman, who was forming a col- 
lection of British birds: this, I trust, will ex- 
culpate me from the charge of wanton cruelty, 
which otherwise might justly have been urged 
against me. 
It was towards the end of May, when these 
birds usually pair, preparatory to the business of 
nidification, &c., that 1 observed a pair—a newly- 
married couple seemingly—who had just decided 
on the place in which they should “pass the 
honeymoon.” A shot from the gun with which I 
was provided made this young wife a widow. 
Apparently unconscious of what had befallen her, 
she removed but to a short distance along the 
same hedge; and in a few minutes after I had 
“bagged my game,” and re-loaded the gun, 
another ‘‘ gallant”? made his appearance. Now, 
whether he so well counterfeited the voice, mien, 
and manner of her “‘first love,” as to make her, 
in the simplicity of her heart, really believe that 
it was he, I cannot say; but at any rate he was 
as well received as though he had been “the real 
Simon Pure.” Our English law mercifully gives 
‘the prisoner at the bar” the “ benefit of any 
doubt” that may arise in his or her case; we will 
therefore, if you please, be equally merciful, and 
give this “fair one” the ‘benefit of any doubt” 
there may be, as to whether she was really 
deceived in the above matter, or not; for it would 
be a sad blot upon her character, if it should 
appear that she could knowingly “receive the 
addresses” of another, at the time that her late 
“lord” was lying dead but a few paces off; such 
conduct would be extremely shocking—surpassed 
tis true by that of “The Lady Ann” in “ Richard 
the Third”—this, however, is known to have 
been a mere invention of the pvet, and not an 
historical fact. Whether Shakspeare was induced 
to perpetrate this libel upon the ‘‘fair sex,” 

KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
merely for the purpose of heightening the effect 
of the piece, or whether he was prompted thereto 
by the desire of giving vent to a little secret spite 
or malice, which from some cause or other he 
harboured against them, is a question upon which 
I shall not offer an opinion. 
But to return from this digression. Another 
shot laid this second “‘inamorato”’ prostrate ; 
when a third appeared—he shared the same fate, 
and then a fourth. How far it might have been 
possible to have gone on with this slaughter, I 
know not; to all appearance it might have been 
continued ad infinitum; but having now speci- 
mens sufficient for my purpose, | felt no inclination 
[how very kind !] to proceed with an experiment, 
cruel in itself, and useless as cruel. [! !] 
From the above fact, it would appear that the 
males of this species, on their migration to this 
country, are in the same forlorn condition, at least 
pro tempore, as the males of our own species, on 
their emigration to ‘‘ our antipodes.” In either 
case, each female on her arrival is sought after 
with the utmost eagerness, and caught at with 
the utmost avidity, being considered—as indeed 
she ought in any case to be considered—if not 
‘the noblest,” at least the fairest “gift of God,” 
&c. 
We are sorry to think that people who 
| write in so pleasant a strain, and who pro- 
fess to love Nature and her works, should 
take such delight in the use ofa gun. We 
cannot reconcile the two, by any art that we 
are master of. The propensity to “ kill,” 
seems peculiar to our race. The moment 
hunger drives the inhabitants of the fields 
near our dwellings, that moment do we open 
a volley upon them for their destruction. 
They ask our hospitality, and pay for it in 
singing. We violate the rights of hospitality 
by making them sing their death-song! 
Nobody shall convince us that man is not a 
semi-savage ! 
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON MAGAZINE, 
—No. 5. Piper. 
We are not surprised to hear of the ex- 
tended popularity of this marvellously-cheap 
as well as interesting periodical. It began 
well, it continues well, and let us hope it will 
end well. The public must be the gainers ; 
that is clear. Common gratitude should 
cause them to take care that the worthy pro- 
prietors too come in for their share of reward. 
They cater nobly for the literary public, and 
deserve their fullest support. 
In the present number is an article entitled 
‘‘ Instinct and Reason.” As this is a subject 
peculiarly suited to our pages, we select a 
portion of it as a specimen of the work :— 
In the case of inferior animals, we find instinct 
directing them to the performance of acts neces- 
sary for their existence, or some important purpose 
in their economy. When the bee builds up the 
cell of wax that is to contain its store of honey, 
it is found to do so on the principles of the most 
profound geometry, which demonstrate that the 


