ably daring and adventurous, and consequently, many of them become the prey of watchful gardeners.

When the snows of winter have fairly set in, and acorns cannot be found among the fallen leaves of the woods, the jay may be noticed flitting from hedge to hedge in the neighbourhood of pea and bean stacks, and clinging to their sides in quest of uncovered pods.

When spring returns, the lover of natural scenery, and of the living objects by which it is adorned, may sometimes hear a profusion of imitative notes, now hoarse and sonorous, now lowered and subdued, and composed of modulations almost approaching to those of song. They are emitted by a small party of jays, that assemble merrily before they depart in pairs, to choose a place for building their nests and hatching their young. It is only at this time that they appear disposed to be social: at other times the jay is a solitary wandering bird, and does not allow its young to associate with it, after they are able to provide for themselves.

THE TITMOUSE.

THE note of the black-headed titmouse, in spring, exactly resembles the setting of a saw. The sound ceases when the bird has a nest; and it appears to foretel rain. The crested titmouse is found only in the forests of Scotland. The elegant bearded titmouse appears amidst the reeds on the banks of the Thames, feeding on insects, but chiefly on the seeds of marsh plants. Of these birds there are also four other species.

They are lively, active, and courageous: they flit from tree to tree; they hop from branch to branch, calling to each other; they hang upon the bark; they poise themselves against the walls; they hook themselves on the trunks of trees, and are suspended in all forms, often with the head downwards, in order to examine every little crevice, and to search out caterpillars, insects, or their eggs. They live also on grain; but instead of breaking it with their bill, like linnets and goldfinches, almost all of them hold it fixed under their little claws, and pierce it with strokes of the beak.

They pierce in the same way nuts and almonds. In general all the titmouse tribe, though rather fierce, love the company of their brethren, and keep in families. When separated by accident, they call mutually to each other, and are soon rejoined in society. They lay many eggs; most species making their nests in the hole of a tree, but one in a round ball appended to a branch, and of a size disproportioned to so small a bird.

Sometimes the titmouse will feed on walnuts, attacking and devouring them as they grow on the tree, and while, from their not being fully ripe, the green outside husk remains. Of course, it especially likes a tree, which is sometimes found bearing nuts, the shells of which consist of a soft texture, easily pervious to its little beak. In such instances it commences its attack at the soft or imperfect apex of the shell, and pecks out the kernel as far as its bill can possibly reach. The entire kernel has been frequently known to be completely scooped out by the titmouse, before the nut was ripe enough to fall from the tree. On one large tree, with a good crop, scarcely a walnut remained which had not been assailed by these birds, and more or less eaten.

THE GULL.

ON various parts of the British coast this bird is constantly found. It breeds on the ledges of rocks close to the sea-shore, sometimes not far above the water. Hundreds have been observed sitting on their nests in an island off St. David's, the nests being made of seaweeds, and placed nearly together, about fourteen feet from the beach. When disturbed they are very clamorous, and not much alarmed by the sportsman's gun. They are frequently seen in winter, at a considerable distance from the coast, and they flock with rooks in the severe weather.

The writer remembers a gentleman, well known as a literary character, telling him that when a schoolboy, on one part of the Irish coast, he and his companions often dared one another to feats of extreme peril. Among these was that of one being suspended over the cliffs, by means of a rope, or if this were wanting, by pocket-handkerchiefs fastened together, in order to take the eggs of the birds that build in the rocks. We