lOO 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP, 



to nest, and through the live-long day eings in the 

 cloudless, or sparselj'- clouded sky. Well hath a writer 

 designated song the joy of birds — a happy definition, 

 for surely 'tis the expression of their happiness. 



But linger I must not o'er a subject so fraught with 

 pleasant associations, and scarcely dare I venture to 

 enumerate birds so common in our lane, and skirting 

 fields and orchards as the linnet {Linota caitnabina), 

 wren ( Troglodytes Eiiropmcs), willow-wren {Sylvia tro- 

 chilus), pied wag-tail {Motacilla YarrelUi), greenfinch 

 {Coccotkraustes chloris), bullfinch [Fyrrhulavulgaris)^ 

 spotted fly-catcher {Muscicapa grisola), redstart 

 (Phanicura ruticilld), grasshopper warbler (Salicaria 

 locustella), and such well-known birds as the siskin, 

 wood-pigeon, ringdove, starling, meadow pipit, 



very numerous — a pair of the former nest in the ivy- 

 clothed branches of a sycamore in my orchard-hedge, 

 hard by the house. 



A host of rarer visitants must needs be unmentioned. 

 Enough has been told to inform the naturalist that 

 the avifauna of our lane is not a limited one. Nor 

 is animal life restricted to two-footed things. The 

 nimble rabbit, scared by my footstep may oft be seen 

 scampering up the lane — the agile squirrel ventures to 

 leave his woods in search of hazel-nuts— and the 

 freshly-raised hillocks of loam in the pastures, plainly 

 indicate the presence of a silent worker — the sleek- 

 coated mole {Talpce Europcsus'). Those much 

 persecuted creatures, the hedgehogs, abound in the 

 meadows ; and into our orchard, the past summer, I 



Fig. 71. — The Jay [Gamilus glandarius). 



cuckoo, the ubiquitous sparrow, swallow, martin, and 

 swift. Those restless and beautiful-plumaged birds 

 the greater and the blue titmice swarm in my garden, 

 and put my friendship to a severe test when my peas 

 and pears are in season ; whilst the cole titmouse 

 {Parus ater) ever finds a welcome. Not seldom the 

 screech-owl pours out his doleful plaint from trees 

 hard by,* and the jay (Garrulus glaiidarius) visits 

 my windows to gather the berries of the cotoneaster. 

 The nuthatch {Sitta Eiiropica), too, is one of our most 

 familiar birds, and his frequent tap, tap, tap, assures 

 us of his presence even when his cry of " chu-whit" 

 cannot be heard. Magpies, rooks and hawks are 



* Her nest is in a yew tree some few yards from the bottom 

 of my garden. 



have good reason to believe, ventured a badger, or 

 badgers, courageous enough to face an armed host of 

 wasps ; excavating large cavities, and tearing to 

 fragments the nests — presumably to devour the grubs. 

 No smaller animal could have excavated so large a 

 quantity of earth in a single night. I have not, 

 however, seen one, but learn that a sporting friend 

 has several skins of these animals, all of which he has 

 shot in this neighbourhood. The long-tailed field- 

 mouse {Mus Sylvaticns), the short-tailed field-mouse 

 [Arvicola ai-vensis), and shrews are wonderfully 

 numerous — and that tiniest of four-footed creatures 

 the elegant harvest mouse {Aficromys tniniitus), is 

 common in the fields adjoining my garden. A mere 

 atom of four-footed animality is it, and a stranger to 

 fear, for on the several occasions that I have come 



