78 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



this v.'as cruelty in its most horrid form — the 

 offence which puts rsntn down on a level with the 

 v/orst of the mythical demons, it was surely a 

 righteous deed to bloc such an existence out lest 

 other young minds should he contaminated, or 

 even that it should be knov/n that such a crime 

 v/as possible. 



All those birds that had finished rearing their 

 young by the sixteenth of June were fortunate, 

 for on the morning oJ that day a great and con- 

 tinuous shouting, v/ith gun-firing, banging on old 

 brass and iron utensils, with various other loud, 

 unusual noises, were heard at one extremity of 

 the village, and continued with occasional quiet 

 Intervals until evening. I his tempest of rude 

 sounds spread from day to day, until the entire 

 area of the village and the surrounding orchards 

 was involved, and the poor birds that were tied 

 to the spots where their treasures were, must 

 have existed In a state of constant trepidation. 

 I'tr fjo'// flic f berries were fast ripening, and the 

 frujt-catin;/ hird'i, especially the thrushes and 



