FOREIGN BIRDS. 
162 
and rest : it deters the approach of the most ferocious^ 
and man and his charge abide unharmed when sur- 
rounded by the terror he has raised. In addition to the 
many characters given as a definition of man, we might 
call him a fire-producing creature. 
The end of our summer months, and the autumnal 
season, afford us frequently the best periods for observ- 
ing some of our occasional visiting birds. Upon their first 
arrival, and for a time afterwards, their notes announce 
their presence ; but they are not always to be seen with 
satisfaction, and scattered in retired places, or occupied 
in the business of incubation, when they are particularly 
wary and suspicious, they are but casually noticed : but 
in the times above stated, our gardens, shrubberies, and 
orchards, become their resort, seeking for the fruits 
usually produced in those places. And, first, the petty- 
chaps, with all her matured brood, is certain to be 
found, feeding voraciously upon our cultivated berries, 
or mining a hole in the fig or jargonel pear ; and so in- 
tent are they upon this occupation, that they will permit 
a reasonable examination of their form and actions, but 
at other periods it is difficult to approach them. The 
blackcap discontentedly flits about our inclosures and 
thickets all the summer through, building her nest or 
tending her young ; the fine clear harmony of the male 
bird resounding in the morning from the brake, yet, 
timid and alarmed, he ceases and hides himself if we 
approach : but he now introduces all his progeny to our 
banquet ; cautious still, we can yet observe his actions, 
and easily distinguish the black or brown heads of the 
sexes, as they are occupied beneath the foliage of an 
Antwerp raspberry. The white-throats, now, too, leave 
their hedges, and all their insect food, which for months 
had been their only supply, and in the thick covert of 
the gooseberry extract with great dexterity the pulp of 
the fruit, or strip the currant of its berry. The elegant, 
slender form of the female, her snowy throat and silvery 
stomach, render her very conspicuous as she scuttles 
away to hide herself in the bush : her plain, brown- 
backed mate seems rather less timid, but yet carefully 
avoids all symptoms of familiarity. Other doubtful littlq 
