24 How I became a Lover of Birds. 



bird, with a black beak, and eyes. It was a nearly fully- 

 fledged youngster, and, when the old birds arrived, with 

 beaks full of insects, the youngster would stretch its head 

 fully out of the hole for the food, but the old bird would 

 brush past him and go inside the box, so that his weaker 

 brothers and sisters might also get their share. Some days 

 after this the old birds, with beaks filled, would not fly at 

 once to the box, but rest in the tree calling to the youngsters 

 to come out, and then would come the morning when all was 

 still, the box was empty, the youngsters had flown, and the 

 adults had taken them to fields and pastures new, teaching 

 them how to cater for themselves 



After making these observations, and having added 

 a year or two to my experience, my desire was to possess 

 such a box to rear Starlings in of my own. The first was. 

 a failure, but I kept at it till I was nearly twenty years 

 old, giving many away also, that others might enjoy the plea- 

 sure of watching the domestic life of such species as used the 

 boxes. 



Our home being situated near a large Park and our 

 garden well stocked with fruit trees running down to a river, 

 it was not Starlings alone that claimed my attention. ,Our 

 neighbourhood was a veritable, " Eldorado," of avifauna, and 

 abounded in Finches and soft bills. Nightingales used to come 

 on to our lawn, from the Park, in search of ants'-eggs. Fly- 

 catchers nested in the grape-vine, Jenny Wrens in an oW 

 shed, and Chaffinches found nesting places galore in a row 

 of young lime-trees in front of our house; then there were 

 Blackcaps, White-throats, Garden Warblers, Melodius Warblers, 

 etc.. No wonder that in such lovely surroundings I should 

 take a keen interest in Nature and become fond of birds,,, 

 animals, fishes, and flowers. My father was an ardent gar- 

 dener, and I have retained the culture and love of flowers- 

 to this day. But this is a digression. To return to the 

 birds. I listened with joy to their song, and watched them build 

 their nests, and how could he who has ever seen the beauti- 

 ful structures of avian architecture, containing suc^ lovely 

 eggs forget them. The collecting of eggs was absolutely 

 vetced at home, and rightly, too. I must, however, plead 

 gv iltv to this hobby, and secreted away a few unknown to 



