264 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



a coming winter by the abundance or scarcity 

 of wild fruits. A little observation will, I think, 

 suffice to show that there is not much in this 

 beyond the part played by mere accident. Nature 

 has little care to bestow upon the weak individual 

 of to-day ; her great concern is for the welfare 

 of the species to-morrow. The effect of this is 

 that we have now with us a stronger and healthier 

 stock of feathered winter residents than we 

 should have had if the severe weather at the 

 beginning of 1895 had not killed off all the weak- 

 lings and undesirables from a propagation point 

 of view. 



Very few people know how hard wild birds 

 are compelled to work for a living during the 

 winter months, even when there is little or no 

 snow upon the ground, and the means by which 

 many species manage to survive during prolonged 

 periods of severe weather is, I must confess, a 

 mystery to me. 



Whilst walking through the gaunt woods in 

 winter we often hear some hungry searcher after 

 a morsel of food hopping over the dead leaves 

 or diligently turning them over in the hope of 

 discovering a lurking trifle beneath. But how 

 much of this kind of work must be done before 

 a single meal is found it is difficult for a human 

 being to conceive. In order thoroughly to ap- 

 preciate the difficulties of birds trying to find 



