176 SUMMER 



proof. But in general the builders in holes are tolerably 

 safe, certainly safer than other small birds which choose the 

 ground or a spot close to the ground. Treading feet must 

 always be a menace, especially in gardens and places which 

 men frequent. How often one has watched, with almost 

 daily anxiety, a nest of a garden robin or chiffchaff escape a 

 succession of threats ; and then, just when safety seemed at 



YOUNG NUTHATCHES 



hand, catastrophe has fallen. The chiffchaffs used to build 

 for example in the gardens of south London, especially 

 Dulwich. A few no doubt survived ; but some watchers, 

 at any rate, found not once or twice that just as the young 

 were nearly fit to fly they fell victims to a prowling cat. The 

 dog is not, as a rule, though exceptions exist, a bird-nester ; 

 but in its restless and inquisitive wanderings it will destroy 

 out of pure frolic many a robin's nest. 



Yet some small birds are most singularly successful in rear- 

 ing their broods. Stonechats and whinchats, which are fond 



