Northern Observations of Inland Birds 75 



breasted linnets, finches, and fieldfares, all on the look 

 out for any morsel thrown away, to say nothing of the 

 hordes of starlings whose industry and alertness render 

 them so well able to look after themselves. It is then 

 that the resident birds of our gardens fare badly unless 

 special care be taken of them. 



I have said that numbers of small birds die during 

 cold snaps, yet it is comparatively seldom that we find 

 their dead bodies. This is because there comes to all wild 

 creatures a desire to creep away and hide when the 

 lassitude of death falls upon them. Thus, if one searches, 

 one may often discover their remains in all manner of 

 out of the way places, such as they would never have 

 entered during their wake-a-day wanderings. Many 

 seek the dense ivy, and, huddled against the trunk with 

 the strong stems of the evergreen winding their sinuous 

 arms about them, they simply pass out of existence in 

 the quietest and best way possible. Others creep into 

 hollow trees, and on examining fallen trees, perhaps 

 split asunder by their fall, I have often found the remains 

 of small birds hidden away among the nooks. In crevices, 

 in rockeries, among ruins, under old wooden bridges, all 

 these are welcome resting places, and I have seen the 

 bodies of small birds clinging by one toe to a twig in some 

 dense bush, or even still seated on their perches, just as 

 they were when the last chill twilight closed about them. 



An eminent naturalist has said that the life of a wild 

 creature is merely a matter of how long it can hold out 

 against its foes, which is true of many, but certainly not 

 of the birds of our groves and gardens. They for the most 

 part live hedged in and sheltered lives, and as a rule 

 death comes to them very quietly and naturally. Of 

 one that meets a violent fate, a thousand go their way 

 in the most enviable manner — sleeping in some secure 

 place, with no knowledge of, and therefore with no 



