32 
NATURE NOTES 
The hours of liberty before breakfast are utilised by “ Fairy ” 
in picking up flies and insects of any kind, and now and then 
I have been rather dismayed to see either a bee or a wasp in his 
little beak. Naturally I endeavour to obtain these trophies from 
him, fearing lest he may be stung — I might just as well try to 
catch a will-o’-the-wisp ! With crest upraised and swiftest 
flight, the wicked little bird baffles all my efforts, and, perched on 
an inaccessible curtain-pole, will enjoy his forbidden prey. 
But there is another and a very touching side to his character 
— I am sure the little creature knows what sympathy means. 
Once, in early morning, I was grieving over sad tidings, when 
my thoughts, which were far away, were recalled by a tender 
little voice close to my ear. “ Fairy ” came on my finger, looked 
fixedly at me, and then nestled down in my hand as if he would 
say, “ I’m sorry for you, but don’t forget you have still got me to 
care for you.” 
Somehow the wordless action did bring comfort, and some 
wonderment too, for it really seemed almost uncanny that so 
minute a creature could be so human in its action. 
These remarks may seem almost too trivial to record, but 
I think they have a certain value as proving the educating 
influence of human companionship in the case of a bird which 
seems scarcely to have ever before been observed in captivity. 
As a rule I am against the caging of English song-birds. Still 
if we have saved an unhappy little fledgling from a miserable 
death, I think “ Fairy’s” biography shows that we can make its 
life within a human dwelling both unusually prolonged and 
unquestionably happy. 
Eliz.\ Brightwen. 
ORNITHOLOGY AND CYCLING. 
I HE interesting article by Professor Henslow on “ Geology 
for Cyclists,” recently published in Nature Notes, 
prompts me to say that there is also a good deal to be 
said in favour of bicycling for ornithologists, especially 
for those who live in towns. Of course an ornithologist must 
not always go out on his machine, for he is then confined to the 
road, and cannot leave it to pursue the bird across the fields 
without the risk of having his machine stolen. But in some 
ways a bicycle is extremely useful to him. It is an excellent 
means of getting a general idea of the distribution of certain 
species over a wide area. More general information on this 
subject can be procured by a few hours’ cycling than can be 
acquired in several days trudging about on foot. And there is 
another point in its favour, which is, that birds will allow 
bicycles to pass within several feet of them when they would not 
