THE STORY OF A GARDEN 1 47 



fatal Heimweh, so that the seed must 

 have come with the moss and done its 

 growing in the fern nook. 



* * * * # 



Do you hear that hoarse call — kuk- 

 kuk-kuk? Above are a pair of yellow- 

 billed cuckoos, with ashy breasts, brown 

 backs warming in colour toward the 

 tail and on the wings, and with power- 

 ful beaks. They have little in common 

 with the European cuckoo, being, 

 though less beautiful, superior in mor- 

 ality, and our greatest protector against 

 the tent-worm. They promised last 

 May, in return for shelter, to clear the 

 orchard of this pest, and they kept 

 faith. Day after day they worked, 

 tearing the wormy films apart in very 

 wantonness and not for food, though 

 before the caterpillars came the cuckoo 

 was almost a stranger. 



Come into the rustic shelter that 



