160 BIRDS AND MAN 



there is nothing astonishing in his confession — that 

 his mental attitude is capable of being explained. 

 It is only natural, in an England from which most 

 of the larger birds have been banished, that he 

 should have become absorbed in observing and in 

 admiration of the small species that remain ; for 

 we observe and study the life that is nearest to us, 

 and seeing it well we are impressed by its perfec- 

 tion — the perfect correspondence that exists between 

 the creature and its surroundings — by its beauty, 

 grace, and other attractive qualities, as we are not 

 impressed by the life which is at a distance, and of 

 which we only obtain rare and partial glimpses. 



These thoughts passed through my mind one cold, 

 windy day in spring, several hours of which I spent 

 lying on the short grass on the summit of a cliff, 

 watching at intervals a pair of ravens that had their 

 nest on a ledge of rock some distance below. Big 

 and solemn, and solemn and big, they certainly were, 

 and although inferior in this respect to eagle, pelican, 

 bustard, crane, vulture, heron, stork, and many an- 

 other feathered notable, to see them was at the same 

 time a pleasure and a relief. It also occurred to me 

 at the time that, alone on a desert island, I should be 

 better off with ravens than wagtails for companions ; 

 and this for an excellent reason. The wagtail is no 



