Page:Story of the robins.djvu/207

Rh he arrived at his own house, I saw him deliver the victims of his cruelty to another person, who hung them up together by the legs, in a place which had a variety of other dead things in it, the sight of which shocked me exceedingly, and I could stay no longer. I therefore flew back to the field in which I had seen the murder committed, and in searching about found the nest belonging to the poor creatures, in which were several young ones just hatched, who in a short time would be starved to death! How dreadful is the fate of young animals that lose their parents before they are able to shift for themselves! and how grateful ought those to be to whom the blessings of parental instruction and assistance are continued!

"When the next morning arrived, I went again to see after the dead partridges, and found them hanging as before, and this was the case the day after; but the following morning I saw a boy stripping all their feathers off. As soon as he had completed this horrid operation, a woman took them, whom I ventured to follow, as the window of the place she entered stood open; where, to my astonishment, I beheld her twist their wings about and fasten them to their sides, then cross their legs upon their breasts, and run something quite through their bodies!