time before I could persuade myself it was an imitation. But what amused me most of all was its production of the neighing of a horse. This was so near the truth, that some companions who were with me were a long time before they could be convinced the sounds proceeded from the bird. The neighing was very subdued and suppressed; but it bore the most striking resemblance to the neighing of a colt at a distance: indeed, so close was the imitation, that, without a sight of the bird, no person could possibly, I think, be persuaded that the sound proceeded from such an agent. These imitations were accompanied occasionally with more subdued and very melodious notes.'

G. W. Edgington, Esq., surgeon, of Benfield, in Berks, had a male Jay which became an excellent mimic before it was twelve months old. The calling of the fowls to their food, and the various noises of the fowls themselves, were given in perfection. The imitation of the barkings and cry of the house-dog could not be distinguished from the sounds made by the original. Bewick says that he has heard a Jay imitate the sound of a saw so exactly, that, though it was on a Sunday, he could hardly be persuaded that there was not a carpenter at work in the house.'

The Blue Jay of America, of which Wilson gives a most graphic account, is quite as accomplished a mimic as ours. It takes a delight in invading in flocks the retreat of the Owl, and driving the poor bird half-distracted by its hootings, screechings, and other uncouth sounds of mockery and derision.

The specific name of this bird, glandarius, is derived from its partiality for vegetable food, such as acorns, which it swallows whole, and beech-mast. It is also partial to fruit, and for this reason is at enmity with the gardener, as well as the farmer and the gamekeeper. That the bird was much more common formerly than now we should conclude from the circumstance, that in the reign of George II.

an Act of Parliament was passed, one clause of which empowered grand juries to offer threepence for every Jay's head, because it was considered to do injury to young

trees.

This premium on the death of the bird no doubt had the effect of thinning its numbers very considerably. Thou hast a crested poll and 'scutcheon'd wing, Fit for the herald of the eagle king;

But such a voice!—I would that thou couldst sing—

says James Montgomery, addressing this bird; which makes answer—

My bill has rougher work, to scream with fright,

And then - when screaming will not do to fight.

We do not, however, learn that the bird is particularly quarrelsome. It only fights, we imagine, when driven to it in self-defence, or to protect its mate or young.

S. W. Partridge, in 'Our English Months,' thus describes the doings of this noisy bird:

The orchard rings
With the loud chattering of the noisy Jay,
Who, mocking up there in the cherry tree,
(Oh how he loves the fruit!) all creatures near,
Ventriloquial, bleats, neighs, and sounds th' alarm
For all around, if danger be but nigh.

Strange bird! he makes on any nest his raid,
Especially the Blackbird's. Cunning, he
(They say he's so discriminative, too,

He knows the Sunday from a common day),

Receives no mercy at the sportsman's hand,

Who, spite his mimicry, and loud shay, shay,'

Straight brings him down, and nails him to the barn,
A warning to his gay, audacious tribe.

From the Ornithologist,' in conclusion, we quote a stanza addressed to the Jay by H. D. M.

Brighter, gayer tints are thine,

Than those in festive halls that shine

At midnight revelries;

For proudly waves thy glittering crest,
Bright beams thy regal ermined vest,
Where blue with purple vies.

3

THE NUTCRACKER (Corvus, or Nucifraga, Caryocatactes). In form and size this bird closely resembles the Jay; but in the colour of its plumage it is very different, the general tint being a dull reddish brown, inclining at the upper part of the head, the wing coverts, and the tail, to black, each of the smaller feathers being terminated with an oblong spot of white, giving the bird a curious speckled appearance. Although placed with the Crows in most systems of classification, yet the Nutcracker resembles in some of its habits the Woodpeckers, like which it climbs among the branches and trunks of trees, and nestles in holes of decayed trees, which it excavates or enlarges for the purpose. It feeds on insects, pine cones, beech-mast, and nuts, which are fixed in crevices, and then broken with the beak. It is said also occasionally to feed on eggs and young birds, like the rest of the Crows.

With us the Nutcracker is a rare visitant. Its proper habitat appears to be mountainous countries, where there are plenty of fir trees. It has been found in Auvergne and Provence, Savoy, Switzerland, and Austria. Not more than five or six specimens have been taken in this country. The eggs of the bird are said to be five or six in number, of a yellowish-grey colour, or wood brown.

1

IN

THIE

N Macgillivray's thirteenth family, called Graculina, or Grakles, we find the Starlings, which form the genus Sturnus. They are birds of small size, gregarious, and insectivorous, belonging to the old continent, although closely allied to the birds of the genus Sturnella, which are peculiar to America.

THE COMMON OF SPOTTED STARLING (Sturnus guttatus), sometimes called the Stare, is a familiar British species, being generally distributed through the country, and often kept in a domesticated state on account of its beauty and aptitude for speaking. It is, in truth, a very beautiful bird, its glossy black plumes being resplendent with green and purple tints, and the triangular yellowish-white spots on the tips of feathers giving relief to the darker hues, and a liveliness of effect to that which would otherwise appear heavy and sombre. The shape of the bird, too, is very

176

WATERTON'S FAVOURITE.

elegant, although robust and compact, giving the idea of strength as well as grace. The plumage is thick and close, as we should expect to find it on so hardy a bird, which braves the rigours of the most northerly climates, and with us makes its home in the exposed and stormy Hebrides and other Scottish isles, more frequently than in the sheltered and cultivated districts of the southern parts of the country, although it is often found there, too, in company with Crows and Rooks; for it is an extremely sociable bird, and seems to delight in the noisy conclaves which those members of the Corvina are accustomed to hold. Mixed with these, or enjoying the pleasures of a strictly family party, very frequently is the poet's picture realised:

High in the topmost branches of the close,
In sable conversation sits the flock

Of social Starlings; the withdrawing beam
Enjoy of hasting day.

Strange to say Bishop Mant, who in 'The British Months' has described the habits of almost every winged denizen of our woods and fields, has dedicated no lines to the Starling, although it is such a familiar and favourite bird. 'The Starling,' says Waterton, shall always find a friend in me: I admire it for its fine shape and lovely plumage; I protect it for its wild and varied song; and I defend it for its innocence.' We wish we could find space for the whole of this author's minute and graphic account of the bird; but this, on account of its length, is out of the question. From Stanley's 'Familiar History of Birds' we glean these particulars:

Not far from the church there is a considerable sheet of water, occupying nearly thirty acres; flanked and feathered, on the eastern side, by an old beech-wood, the abiding place of Jackdaws. Its western margin is bounded by an artificial dam, which, as the water is upon a much higher level, commands an extensive view over a flat rich country, the horizon terminated by the fine outline of the first range of Welsh mountains. This