CHAPTER OF VARIETIES 



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animal rolls itself underneath the crab trees to cause the wind-fallen 

 fruit to attach itself to their quills, and as this fruit could not possibly 

 have been in the situation found without the conveyance of the creature 

 itself, it is only reasonable to conclude that it had stored them there as 

 food ; whether to supply present wants, or as a provision for the future, 

 when nothing of the kind could be procured, remains a question. 



A few years before, I observed a gang of gipseys busily employed in 

 roasting a hedgehog, and waiting to see them partake of it, which they 

 assured me was very good, they invited me to the feast, but my stomach 

 was too nice to accommodate itself to unknown luxuries. 



I have repeatedly had them in my possession whilst a lad, and when 

 we wanted to make them unroll themselves, we did not resort to the 

 method mentioned of sprinkling hot water, replete with cruelty ; ours 

 was to put them in a pail of cold. They say it is not possible to save 

 their skin unless they are starved to death, but I have had several dogs 

 that would fetch them out of a river and kill them, and even destroy 

 them by pressing on one end of them, and forcing their mouths into 

 the part where their belly was concealed, despatching them in the 

 course of a few minutes, without breaking their skin or causing them 

 to bleed. In the parish where I was born, and passed my childhood, 

 from a belief that they injure cattle by milking them or wounding their 

 udders, the churchwarden would pay Sd. a head for old ones, and 4d. 

 for young ones, out of the parish funds, when taken to him, by any 

 one who chose to demand it. — L. W. Clarke, Birmingham. 



Native bird-lime. — The resinous substance on the buds of the 

 horse chestnut acts like bird-lime on several small birds, particularly 

 the gold crests, which are often caught by it, and the poor little things 

 being unable to extricate themselves, are starved to death. — Edward 

 Blyth, Tooting. 



Tree creeper's song. — The creeper (Certhia familiaris), is 

 usually represented in books to have no song ; but this is a mistake, 

 as it has a very pleasing song, executed in the high shrill key of the 

 hedge sparrow. It may be described as intermediate between the song 

 of the wren and that of the gold-crest. — Edward Blyth, Tooting. 



Method of making a strange cat remain in a house. — The 

 popular manner of attaching a cat to a particular house is to anoint 

 the feet with butter, confining her to a room till she free herself from 



