can easily be made obedient and docile, and trained to hunt partridges and quails; it makes great destruction among pigeons, young poultry, and small birds of all kinds, which it will attack and carry off in the most daring manner.

hawk kind, scarcely Its bill is blue; cere

THE merlin is the smallest of the exceeding the size of a blackbird. and irides yellow: the head is of a rust colour, streaked with black, and edged with rust colour; the quill feathers, dark, tipped and margined in the inner webs with redish white; the breast and belly are of a yellowish white, with streaks of rusty brown pointing downwards; the tail is long, and marked with alternate dusky and pale bars; the wings, when closed, do not reach quite to the end of the tail: the legs are yellow; the claws black.

This bird, though small, is not inferior in courage to any of the falcon tribe. It was used for taking larks, partridges, and quails, which it will frequently kill by one blow, striking them on the breast, head, or neck. This bird differs from the falcons, and all the rapacious kind, in the male and female being of the same size.

The merlin does not breed here, but visits us in October: it flies low, and with great celerity and ease. It preys on small birds, and breeds in woods, laying five or six eggs.

ALL birds of the owl kind may be considered as nocturnal robbers, who, unfitted for taking their prey while it is light, surprise it at those hours of rest when the tribes of Nature are least in expectation of an enemy: it is not however, as some have imagined, in the darkest nights, but in the dusk of evening, or the dawn of morning, that they are best fitted for seeing; it is then they come abroad in quest of plunder; and they carefully return to their retreats before the broad day-light begins to dazzle them with its splendour.

The larger animals of this tribe are called horned owls, from the circumstance of two or three feathers standing up on each side of the head over the ear, resembling horns. One variety of these appears, at first sight, as large as an eagle, but, on a closer inspection, it will be found considerably less. Its plumage is of a redish brown, diversified with black and yellow spots. The other varieties differ principally in their size.

The largest of these birds without horns, is the owlet, with dusky plumes and black eyes: to which may be added, the screech owl, with blue eyes, and plumage of an iron grey; the white owl, with yellow eyes, and about as large as the former; the brown owl, so called from the colour of its beak and plumage; and the little brown owl, with yellowish eyes, and an orange-coloured bill.-All

these varieties, however they may differ in their size and plumage, agree in their general characteristics of preying by night, and having their eyes formed for nocturnal vision. They have all, likewise, a hideous note, which is often heard in the silence of midnight, and breaks the general pause with a horrid variation.

These birds are often seen in the northern parts of England; and at times near the vicinity of London.

ALL birds of this species being of the poultry kind, have white flesh and bulky bodies. They are furnished with short strong bills, for picking up grain, which constitutes their principal sustenance; their wings are short and concave, for which reason they are not able to fly far; and their toes are united by a membrane as far as the first articulation, being afterwards divided, as in those of the former class. The females generally make their nest on the ground, and lay a great number of eggs.

Of all other birds, the cock seems to have been first reclaimed from the forest, and taken to supply the accidental failure of the luxuries or necessaries of life. As he has thus been longest under the care and protection of man, so of all others he seems to exhibit the greatest number of varieties; there being scarcely two birds of this species that exactly resemble each other in form and plumage. The tail, which makes such a beautiful figure in the generality of these animals, is entirely wanting in some; and the feathers, which lie so sleek and regular in most of those we are acquainted with, are, in a peculiar breed, all inverted, and stand the wrong way.

In his native state of independence, as seen in the woods on the coast of Malabar, and in many islands of the Indian ocean, the plumage of this bird is black and yellow, and his comb and wattles are yellow and purple; and it is peculiarly worthy of observation, that the bones of this species, when boiled, are as black as ebony.-The varieties noticed above, with many others too tedious for enumeration, may be considered as indubitable marks of long captivity.

No animal has greater courage than the cock, when opposed to one of his own species, and in every part of the world, where refinement and polished manners have not taken place, cock-fighting is a principal diversion.In China, India, and the Philippine Islands, and all over the East, it is a favourite sport even with kings and princes. This bird is very attentive to his females, and sometimes perfectly infuriate in defence of his young.

The hen seldom clutches a brood of chickens above once a season, though instances have been known to the contrary. Provided, however, she be well fed and supplied with water, she will lay upwards of two hundred eggs in the course of a year. During the period of incubation, nothing can exceed her patience and perseverance; and when her little offspring are produced, her pride and her affection seem to alter her very nature, and render her equally bold and abstemious on their account, though naturally timid and voracious.

To describe the inimitable beauties of this elegant bird, in adequate terms, would be a task of no small difficulty. Its head is adorned with a tuft consisting of twenty-four

feathers, whose slender shafts are furnished with webs only at the ends, painted with the most exquisite green, mixed with gold; the head, throat, neck, and breast, are of a deep blue, glossed with green and gold; the greater coverts and bastard wings are of a redish brown, as are also the quills, some of which are variegated with black and green; the belly and vent are black, with a greenish hue: but the distinguishing character of this singular bird, is its train, which rises just above the tail, and, when erected, forms a fan of the most resplendent hues; the two middle feathers are sometimes four feet and a half long, the others gradually diminishing on each side; the shafts white, and furnished from their origin nearly to the end with parted filaments of varying colours, ending in a flat vane, which is decorated with what is called the eye. When pleased and delighted, and in sight of his female, the peacock erects his tail, and displays all the majesty of his beauty; all his movements are full of dignity; his head and neck bend nobly back; his pace is slow and solemn, and he frequently turns slowly and gracefully round, as if to catch the sun-beams in every direction, and produce new colours of inconceivable richness and beauty, accompanied at the same time with a hollow murmuring voice, expressive of desire.

cry of the peacock, at other times, is often repeated and very disagreeable.

The peahen is somewhat less than the cock, and though furnished with both a train and crest, is destitute of those dazzling beauties which distinguish the male. She lays five or six eggs, of a whitish colour: for this purpose she chuses some secret spot, where she can conceal them from the male, who is apt to break them: she sits from twentyfive to thirty days, according to the temperature of the climate, and the warmth of the season. These birds were originally brought from the distant provinces of India, and thence have been diffused over every part of the world.

The female of this species, like the pheasant, have been known to assume the appearance of the male, by a total change of colour: this is said to take place after they have done laying.

White peacocks are not uncommon in England; the eyes of the train are barely visible, and may be traced by a different undulation of shade upon the of the tail.

pure

white