their keepers; and different names were given to the same species at different ages, as is still practised with respect to other domesticated animals.

Is the least of the hawk species, and, as his name implies, is not very different in size from the Blackbird; the word Merlin signifying in French a small merle, or blackbird. However, he is one of the best birds our Falconers used for hawking. The male is also smaller than the female, as in the other kinds; and is noted for his daringness and spirit, often attacking and killing at one stroke, a full grown partridge or a quail. The back of this bird is parti-coloured, of dark blue and brown; the flag feathers of the wings black, with rusty spots; the train is about five inches long, of a dark brown or blackish colour, with transverse white bars: the breast and belly down is of a dirty white, interspersed with brown spots: the legs are long, slender, and yellow; the talons black. The head is

encircled with a row of yellowish feathers, not unlike a coronet. In the male the feathers on the rump, next the tail, are bluer; a note by which, as well as by his size, the Falconers easily discern the sex of the bird.

ALSO called the Ninckiller, is known in the north of England, by the name of Waryangle. It is said, that he catches small birds to the number of nine, and affixes them to a thorn, one after another; and that when he has completed the number nine, he begins to tear them in pieces in order to eat them. But this story carries with itself proofs of its falsity. Would a hungry bird refrain from satisfying his appetite till he has ranged his victims in a row, and not touch any of them till a certain number is attained? The fact is, that this small bird is so courageous, that he will attack, combat, and kill much bigger birds than himself; and that to manage his tearing them with more ease he hangs them at a thorn, as à butcher does

his beasts at a hook, and dilaniates them at pleasure, from which circumstance the French call him the Lamier, from the Latin Lanius, "a butcher." The head, back, and rump, are ash coloured; the chin and belly white; the breast and lower part of the throat varied with dark lines, crossing each other; the tips of the feathers of the wings are for the most part white; he has a black spot by the eye; the utmost feathers of the male are all over white; the two middlemost have only their tips white, the rest of the feathers being black, as well as the legs and feet. He builds his nest among thorny shrubs and dwarf trees, and furnishes it with moss, wool, and downy herbs, where the female lays five or six eggs. A peculiarity belonging to the birds of this kind is, that they do not, like others, expel the young ones from the nest, as soon as they can provide for themselves, but the whole brood live together in one family.

THE LITTLE BUTCHER BIRD,

CALLED in Yorkshire Flusher, is about the bigness of a Lark, with a large head. About the nostrils and corners of the mouth he has black hairs or bristles; and about the eyes a large black longitudinal spot; the back and upper side of the wings

are

of a rusty colour; the head and rump cinereous; the throat and breast white, spotted with red. He builds his nest of grass; and the female lays six eggs, nearly all white, except at the blunt end, which is encircled with brown or dark red marks.

Is somewhat bigger than the Eagle, but has not that noble spirit, which distinguishes the king of the air. His beak is large, and crooked at the end. His sense of smelling is very sagacious, so that he can perceive the savour of dead carcases from afar. His neck is for the most part bare of feathers, and his craw hangs like a bag before his breast; the whole from the neck is covered with soft down; and below

hangs a tuft of hair, resembling that of a quadruped; the tongue is bifid. This bird, compared to the Eagle, has an ignominious, mean look; his claws are strong, and enable him to seize most powerfully on his prey, and even to dig out half-buried carrion, which he will always prefer to fresh meat. This bird is a native of nearly all parts of Europe, but unknown in England. The general colour is a dingy white.

The King of the Vultures is a species, whose head, eyes, and beak, are adorned with red cartilaginous appendages; his back is of a brown colour, and his neck ornamented with reddish feathers. These birds build in general among the rocks, in lofty places, which they make resound with horrid screamings, in search of their prey, or when disputing and wrangling for the possession of a nest-hole in the cliffs, or the choice of a female in the flock.

In Mythology, the Vulture is represented gnawing the liver and heart of Tityus and Prometheus, as a punishment for their impious audacity. And Satan is compared to this bird by Milton:

"As when a Vulture on Imaüs bred,
Whose snowy ridge the roving Tarlar bounds,
Dislodging from a region scarce of prey,
To gorge the flesh of lambs or yeanling kids,

On hills where flocks are fed, flies tow'rd the springs
Of Ganges or Hydaspes

PARADISE LOST, B. iii.