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at liberty in England, I was at first rather at a loss to ascertain the name of a bird 
which allowed me frequently to approach within a few yards, as it sat on the pro¬ 
jecting twig of a bush in the vallies of the hilly district of Baden Baden. I can 
testify to the power assigned to it by some Naturalists, of varying its notes, or ra¬ 
ther imitating those of other birds. Not exactly, indeed ; for my first acquaintance 
with the Butcher bird was occasioned by hearing notes not entirely familiar to me, 
though much resembling those of the Stonechat. Following the sound, I soon 
discovered the utterer, and while listening, to my surprise, the original notes were 
discarded and others adopted of a softer and more melodious character, never, how¬ 
ever, prolonged to any thing like a continuous song. Its grave ash coloured garb 
with its peculiar black patch on the cheek, soon convinced me that my unknown 
friend was the Butcher bird, that petty tyrant of its neighbourhood, carrying on in¬ 
cessant warfare and wanton waste of life amongst the small fry of the passerine order, 
and whose war-cry was wont to set a host of minor warblers to flight. When con¬ 
templating the plump, comfortable, tame-looking bird before me, its placid look and 
mild demeanour beaming, as far as externals might be depended on, with benevo¬ 
lence and good will to every songster of the grove, I could scarcely persuade my¬ 
self that its character had not been grossly libelled, and that such a picture of bon¬ 
homie was not, in truth, the friend and guardian of his lesser feathered brethren. 
But that his tender mercies were cruel was a fact too firmly established to admit of 
doubt; and as he flitted away to a distant spray, I was left alone to meditate on the 
truth of the adage, applicable to birds as well as men, nimium ne crede colori. 
The Golden Oriole, (Oriolus Galbula ). I might for a moment have had 
my doubts as to the specific identity of the last mentioned bird, but here there can 
be neither error nor hesitation. On the least observing, this concentrated essence 
of golden plumage obtrudes itself; and who that has ever once seen this passing 
meteor of brightness, even on the wing, can doubt of its being the Golden Oriole. 
I saw but one in a state of freedom; its presence adding one more item towards 
perfection in the lovely entrance of the valley leading to the mineral springs of 
Tonestein, and the solitary lake and convent in the circuitous route between 
Briilil and Andernach. I could not find that they were common anywhere ; if, 
indeed, plentifully distributed over the country, they ought to be much oftener 
seen, as they are in the habit of frequenting orchards or gardens ; being, like our 
Jays, sad thieves when the ripened cherry-trees tempt them to become purloiners. 
I suspect, however, that they are locally gregarious ; for a French Naturalist once 
assured me that, in his roamings through the forests of his district, months often 
passed without his falling in with a single bird; whereas, at other times, not limit¬ 
ed to particular seasons, he occasionally found them in comparative abundance. 
In the public market at Cologne I saw a pair of young ones in nearly full plumage, 
for which I was asked the moderate sum of three shillings. Had my steps been 
bending downwards on the Rhine, instead of upwards with a long journey before 
