68 THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 
bolted with this here un and the nest/' " And what 
are you going to do with it " To take it to Var- 
?/zer Stubbs/' "And what will Farmer Stubbs do 
with it?" " Give it to the cat, to be zure : for you 
zee the varmer says as how the birds eat his corn and 
fruit, and he is 'termined to kill them all, and he tell 
we boys he will gie us a penny vor every nest as we 
takes him with young ^uns ; but as Tom grabbed the 
other birds, I doubt he'll on'y gie I a hap'ny.' 
Ask Farmer Stubbs if he would like any one to 
take his children away from him?'' The boy re- 
plied, grinning — " He hant got none — he beant mar- 
ried." "So much the worse; if he were a parent 
he would have more feeling, and perhaps not grudge 
those interesting birds the small modicum they pur- 
loin from his abundance." After reprimanding the 
boy for the misery he had occasioned the parent birds 
as well as the young, he very innocently asked me if 
they could feel. He said he knew they felt if he 
hurt them, but that was not what he meant — could 
they feel sorry, as he sometimes did if his brother or 
sister were ill ? After explaining to him that those 
little creatures were as susceptible of pleasure or pain 
as ourselves, I had the satisfaction of seeing that he 
