se buds which contain a destructive insect. Ornithologists
have of late determined these facts to be true, and parish officers
would do well to consider them before they waste the public money
in paying rewards to idle boys and girls for the heads of dead birds,
which only encourages children and other idle persons in the
mischievous employment of fowling instead of minding their work or
their schooling. But to return to the experiment alluded to. On some
very large farms in Devonshire the proprietors determined a few
summers ago to try the result of offering a great reward for the
heads of Rooks, but the issue proved destructive to the farms, for
nearly the whole of the crops failed for three succeeding years, and
they have since been forced to import Rooks and other birds wherewith
to re-stock their farms.

Of late years the extensive destruction of the foliage and young
fruit in orchards by a species of caterpillar has excited the
attention of the naturalist, and it has been found to have arisen
from the habit of destroying those small birds about orchards
which if left unmolested would have destroyed or kept down those
rapacious insects.

* * * * *

SANDPIPERS.

Sandpipers breed about Clitheroe. I this year (1832) started an
old one from her nest at the root of a Weymouth pine. She screamed
out, and rolled about in such a manner, and seemed so completely
disabled, that, although perfectly aware that her intention was to
allure me from her nest, I could not resist my inclination to
pursue her, and in consequence I had great difficulty in finding
the nest again. It was built of a few dried leaves of the Weymouth
pine, and contained three young ones just hatched, and an egg
through which the bill of a young one was making its way. Yet,
young as they were, on my taking out the egg to examine it, the
little things, which could not have been out of the shell more
than an hour or two, set off out of the nest with as much celerity
as if they had been running about a fortnight. As I thought the
old one would abandon the egg if the young ones left the nest, I
caught them again and covering them up with my hand for some time,
they settled down again. Next day all four had disappeared.

Montagu says: "It is probable many of the Sandpipers are capable
of swimming if by accident they wade out of their depth. Having
shot and winged one of this species as it was flying across a
piece of water, it fell, and floated towards t