A MUCH-MARRIED BIRD.
How long do wild birds live ? My own belief is that most of the bigger birds have rather longer lives than is generally believed, when they do not suffer a violent death. A modern instance of an engaging sort will give some confirmation. On a famous Norfolk sanctuary a male oyster-catcher has flourished, so the keeper maintains, for the last twenty-eighl years. He has become an intimate friend of his preserver, evincing little shyness even at nesting time and making many friendly advances. The lighting of the lights in a cabin adjacent to his home especially delights him, and he expresses his pleasure vocally. For the last seven years he has gallantly supported two wives, and what is more kept them free from jealousy. They lay under his instructions in the same nest and share the brooding of the eggs. The normal clutch of three, or at most four, is on occasion enlarged to seven. Some species of birds are polygamous, some few even polyandrous, but the oyster-catcher is certainly as a rule among the larger class of monogamous birds, Are we to infer that this par- ticular male is a being of exceptional qualities or that pro- tection alters native practices ?
W. BEACH THOMAS.
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