UNPAIRED BIRDS. 
105 
Cn. 
Ap. V 
Xiv. 
^lus\ 
th e ’ Were billed one after the other whilst attending 
SaiDe Dest 5 two of these were in mature plumage, 
h V(;i . third in the plumage of the previous year. 
^r ty' Vit 'h the rare golden eagle {Aquila chrysaStos), 
iu ^ Ir hheek was assured bv a trustworthy gamekeeper 
So !? tland > that i] 1 one is killed, another is soon found. 
<«h the white owl ( Btrix jlammea), it has been 
' th Vf> ^ that “the survivor readily found a mate, and 
^ laisehief went on.” 
a.(] c } s J te of Selborne, who gives the case of the owl, 
NrirlJ 1 h ? W a man, who from believing that 
%htj C '^ tS "hen paired were disturbed by the males 
Wido’ 1 -’ US(, d to shoot them ; and though he had 
S( JOll Ved the same female several times she was always 
m^ptovided With a fresh partner. This same natu- 
ta artj 0l ’hered the sparrows, which deprived the liouse- 
M’a s j ls °t their nests, to be shot : but the one which 
“ ai 1( j ’ “ he it cock or lien, presently procured a mate, 
° '° r several times following.” 1 could add ana- 
fed s ^ ar ° ases relating to the chaffinch, nightingale, and 
^t'ci n ■ ^'th respect to the latter bird ( Phoenicura 
eoi tttn 0 • tke W1 'ifer remarks that it was by no means 
SlJr pri. j 1U neighbourhood, and he expresses much 
hial • l0vv the sitting female could so soon give effec- 
T4C « that she was a widow. Mr. .Tenner Weir has 
Stic 
h, 
n ever 
llec i to me a nearly similar case: at Blackheath 
"hen or SeeS ° r h eai ’s the note of the wild bullfinch, yet 
Coi k\s e » °' his caged males has died, a wild one in the 
''Sr |j. a h' w days has generally come and perched 
Vcl, r "'Towed female, whose call-note is far from 
tl)i s "hi give only one other fact, on the authority 
^garil' a<i °kserver ; one of a pair of starlings (Sturnus 
' V S f Q " as shot in the morning ; by noon a new mate 
fair 111 > this was again shot, but before night the 
Wag 
complete ; so that the disconsolate widow or 
