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vres to draw away her young. She would go a short distance, utter a cry, return, and seemed to lead the way for her brood to follow. Having driven her away, that I might have a better opportunity of watching her young ones, she never ceased calling them; and they made towards her, skulking amongst the rushes, till they came to the other side of the pond. They had only just left the shell, and had, probably, never heard the cry of their mother before.-JESSE.

THE BLACKBIRD

ject of the birds' research, I turned up a piece of turf with the spade, and found it almost swarming with the cockchafer-grubs, of various sizes; and this circumstance confirmed my suspicion that it was for the purpose of feeding upon these larvæ that the blackbirds had made such havoe of the grass-plot. They performed, in short, in this case, precisely the same service by destroying the cockchafer-grub, that the rooks are so well known to do. The turf, I should add, soon regained its wonted verdure, the injured patches being scarcely to be distinguished from the rest of the

RENDERS IMPORTANT SERVICE TO MAN grass-plot.

IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GRUBS
OF THE COCKCHAFER.

IN the month of August, 1832, I
was struck with the rather un-
usually large assemblage of black-
birds which frequented my garden;
eight or ten were frequently to be
seen together; and one morning I
counted thirteen at the same time
hopping about and chattering on the
grass-plot before the house. Their
visits were usually paid about eight
o'clock in the morning, and con-
tinued to arrest my attention for per-
haps ten days or a fortnight. The
birds directed their operations more
especially to particular spots on the
grass-plot, which they stocked up
with their bills, till the turf, which
changed colour, and was supposed
to be dying, became almost bare in
patches, and was quite disfigured by
the refuse roots of grass, &c., which
were left littered on the surface.
Indeed, such was the rough and un-
sightly appearance which the grass-
plot presented in consequence, that
hints were even thrown out that
the blackbirds ought to be destroy-
ed; for they had been repeatedly
seen in the very act of disfiguring
the turf, and the whole mischief
was, of course, from first to last at-
tributed to them.

Suspecting what might be the ob

Here then we have another instance of the "utility of preserving birds on farms and in orchards and gardens." The above fact also confirms me in the opinion that birds which subsist for the most part on vegetable food, do not confine themselves to that diet, but prefer to mix along with it some animal food likewise. There was plenty of fruit in the garden,-gooseberries and currants, which are so much to their taste,-when the blackbirds chose to be at the pains of stocking up the turf in order to devour the cockchafer-grubs. And yet I have heard the blackbirds called "a most pernicious race." They do, I admit, eat fruit,-no doubt of it: but the injury they commit in this way is more than compensated by the good services they perform in another; and I think, on the whole, we should be no gainers by destroying them. Were any of our common birds (or, indeed, other animals) to multiply to an unusual extent, and increase out of due proportion, they would immediately become a pest and a nuisance; on the other hand, were they to be annihilated, and the race to become extinct, or nearly so, we should soon miss their services, and be equally inconvenienced, because in

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That all day long with click and bang, Close to their couch did hammer clang; and in which the usual din of such places, is considerably increased by the strokes of a hammer, which would have baffled the strength even of "Hal of the Wynd," himself to wield, and is worked by water. But neither the noise of the adjacent forge, nor the frequent visits of the owners of the cottage, deterred these fearless settlers. They entered through a window-frame, the lattice of which had been removed; and in a child's covered cart, which, with its horse attached to it, was hanging on a peg over the fire-place, and just afforded space for the purpose, they built their first nest early in the spring. The circumstance was observed, and soon became an object of curiosity to the neighbours, many of whom came to look at the nest; these inquisitive visits, however, had not the effect of alarming the birds, who here reared, without accident, their first brood. When the attention of the parents was no longer needed by their full-fledged offspring, they set about providing for another family, and built their second nest on a shelf, on the opposite side of the room, close to an old mouse-trap. Here, again, they received visits of inquiry from bipeds of a larger growth, and reared

and dismissed their progeny. This second brood had no sooner left them, than, as if mindful of their Creator's mandate, "increase and multiply," they again betook themselves to the task of building a third roof: and for this purpose, chose nest, under the same sheltering another shelf, in a different corner of the same room, and there in their mossy bed, on a bundle of papers, on the 21st of June, I saw four half-fledged nestlings, which the parent birds were feeding, while a party of us were watching their proceedings. I am wrong, perhaps, in saying the parent birds, for the hen alone entered the room while we were there, the cock-bird contenting himself with observing us from the outside. There can be no doubt, that the same pair of birds belonged to each successive nest, as the loss of her tail rendered the hen conspicuous amongst her kindred in the neighbourhood.-J. R.

In an enclosure on the outside of my garden is a small heap of manure, the materials of which came partly from the stable, and partly from the sea-shore. In a little hollow on the side of this heap, under a sort of pent-house formed by a lock of the sea-weed, a redbreast has built her nest, and hatched her young, unmolested by the gardeners and other persons who are continually passing by; for her situation is almost close to the gardendoor; and to all appearance, insensible of any inconvenience from the manure heap having been recently dug away, within a couple of feet of her nest, which she goes in and out of with little scruple, in the presence of any one who happens to be near. The fact is, perhaps, not unworthy of notice, both on account of the substance on which the bird has chosen to establish herself, and of the public and much frequented situation.

A twelvemonth ago, I observed another redbreast's nest very pleasantly situated in a window of a house, at that time my residence, which stood in a garden. The house was almost covered with ivy; and round some of the windows was a light trellis, with which roses and other flowering plants were interwoven. On the sill of one of the windows, and in a snug recess within the trellis, the redbreast took up her abode, where she might be continually seen from the parlour to which the window belonged, during the whole process of incubation, till, in due time, she carried off her young brood in safety. She was much the object of observation to different members of the family, and often would have escaped notice, as she sat patiently on her nest, but for the bright sparkling of her eye, which seemed to speculate on the observers as curiously as theirs did on her. But the window never being opened, and care being taken not to disturb her, she arrived prosperously at the termination of her maternal cares.-Field Naturalist.

THE Carrier-Pigeon is distinguish ed by a broad circle of white skin round each eye, and by the darkblueish colour of its plumage. It will convey letters from distant

parts with remarkable celerity and certainty; and this arises from the natural attachment which the birds have for the places where they have been bred. The mode of employing them is to take them to the spot whence intelligence is to be brought, to tie the letter under their wing, and to let them loose. They rise to a great height in the air, then, by an extraordinary instinct, they dart onward in a direct line to their home. Out of one hundred and ten pigeons brought from Brussels to London, in the Summer of 1830, and let fly from London, July 19, at a quarter before nine, A. M., one reached Antwerp, one hundred and eighty six miles distance, at eighteen minutes past two, or in five hours and a half, being at the rate of nearly thirty four miles an hour. Five more reached it within eight minutes after. Thirteen others took two hours and a half more for the journey, or eight hours in the whole. Another Pigeon went from London to Maestricht, two hundred and sixty miles, in six hours and a quarter. In January, 1831, two Pigeons, brought from Liskeard to London, were let fly from London to Cornwall. One reached Liskeard, two hundred and twenty miles' distance, in six hours, the other in a quarter of an hour more. │-Cressingham Rectory.

NATURAL HISTORY.

CAMEL and Dromedary.

Llama

Hind, Roe, &c.

Rein-deer.

Covering of animals.

BEASTS.

Natural affection of animals.

Dog at Carrick-a-rede.
Pointer.

Sagacity of a Dog.

Dogs and Rats.

Hare.

Puma.

Instinct of animals.

Leopard.

Tiger.

Elephant.

African Lion.

Menagerie.

Otter.

Beaver.

Ichneumon.

Brahminee Bull.

Capturing animals.

Alderney Cow.

Cruelty to animals,
Bouquetin or Ibex.
Thibet Goat.
Arabian Goat.
Wild Ass.

Instinct of Ass.

Anecdotes of animals.

Vampyre Bat.

Chinchilla.

Spider Monkey.
Chaetodon,

Rhinoceros and Elephant.

Distribution of animals.

Harvest Mouse.

Duck-bills.

Mole.
Hedgehog.
Ceylon Deer.

THE CAMEL AND THE DRO

MEDARY.

THE Camel and the Dromedary are different species of the same genus; the one, the Camel, being furnished with two hunches, and the other possessing but one. The species with two hunches is called the Bactrian Camel, and is much larger, stouter, and shorter on its legs than the other. Its native country appears to be the warmer portion of Asia, where it is used, principally, as a beast of burden, and it is said, that some of these animals are sufficiently powerful to carry as much as from ten to twelve hundred weight.

The Dromedary is more graceful in its form; its legs are longer, and it is much swifter in its movements than the Camel. It is spread also over a large tract of country, being found throughout the whole of Arabia, and all the northern and central portions of Africa. It is more completely than any other creature a domesticated animal, and has never yet been found in a wild state. The name given to it by the wandering Arab is finely indicative of its qualities ; it is called the "Ship of the Desert."

To have some idea of the value of the Camel to the inhabitants of those countries in which it is found, we have but to consider the useful and necessary purposes to which, in our more temperate climate, the horse is applied; the loss of that valuable creature would be severely felt, but it would be trifling when compared to that of the natives of Africa or Arabia, if deprived of the services of the Camel.

The Arab of the Desert is indebted to it for food and security; its milk is nourishing, and when fermented, a spirituous liquor is produced, which supplies the place of wine; its flesh is also considered excellent food, and its skin is turn

ed to many useful purposes. The foot of the Camel is finely adapted for affording a firm support on the loose sands it has to traverse; being broad and flat, the toes undivided, and spreading considerably, when placed upon the ground. If it were not for the services of this useful creature, the immense deserts of the torrid zone would be utterly impassable, and all intercourse between many distant nations would be at once at an end. In addition to the other means it possesses of crossing these burning sands, where many days may pass without a supply of water, the most peculiar and wonderful construction of its stomach allows it to lay up a store of water in a number of cells in the interior of this organ, so formed as to allow the animal to empty them singly, when necessary for its support, and in this manner, from its own_resources, to moisten its parched mouth in the dreary journey across the desert.

The hunch of the Camel is a beautiful provision made by nature, for the support of the persevering animal when distressed for want of food; when this occurs, the fat of which the hunch is formed gradually disappears, and contributes to maintain the strength of its possessor till it is utterly exhausted. The young camel, while living upon the milk of its mother, and consequently not liable to be in want of nourishment, is without this hunch on the back; nature, although always bountiful, never labouring to a useless end.

Mounted on his well-trained camel, the Arab defies the pursuit of the swiftest horse, and retires, unmolested, to his native wastes. To avoid danger from the bands of robbers with which the desert is infested, merchants and travellers collect together in large numbers; their goods and merchandise are fastened on the backs of camels, whose num

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