294 AUTUMN AND WINTER 



For birds are tamer than we think. The man whom we 

 used to watch in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris had no 

 special charm by which the sparrows were drawn to settle on 

 his shoulders and to peck from his hands. If he possessed 

 the qualities of St. Francis, they were not obvious on simple 

 inspection. It is indeed an easy thing to get into touch with 

 birds ; to induce a gull on the embankment to take a sprat 

 from your fingers, or to tempt a robin to the breakfast-table, 

 or tits to a cocoa-nut within the window, or sparrows to your 

 feet. Any invalid has the chance of realising this and taking 

 profit by it. An open window and a tray of crumbs may 

 make all the difference between a cheery and wretched 

 period of illness or convalescence. More than one particular 

 picture comes to the mind. The first is an invalid's room in 

 Dorset. As a beginning the window-sill was scattered with 

 crumbs each morning. Then a tray was fixed so as to 

 extend the table. As spring began to warm the air the 

 window was opened as often as might be, and the tray fixed 

 inside instead of out. The change made no difference to the 

 birds. Blue-tits, great-tits, cole-tits, robins, chaffinches, and 

 an occasional wagtail came gaily into the room ; and it was 

 noticeable that the birds less tame, one would say, by nature, 

 and especially the chaffinches, showed even less nervousness 

 than the robins when they had conquered their first fears. 

 Another picture of this sort is set in the frames of windows 

 looking on a beautiful garden sanctuary in the Isle of Wight. 

 But we may all do the same ; the extended window-sill is the 

 first and best attraction. If it be put before the window 

 in sight of the breakfast-table it will pay ioo per cent, in 

 the first week. 



One of the best of all tamers was that charming 

 naturalist, whose invalid state suggested the study of 

 natural history as a solace, Mrs. Brightwen. The poet 



