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Bird Notes and News 



and her three small children, who had 

 all been hopelessly spoilt and were 

 like three little demons, who despised 

 their poor young mother and flouted 

 her authority. They screamed, and she 

 screamed in turn and was for ever 

 threatening to beat them, to drown 

 them in the water-butt, to put them 

 on the fire, to cut their heads off ; and 

 at last one day, finding it impossible 

 to work or read, I went to the kitchen 

 to remonstrate with her. It was a 

 small place, dreadfully hot, with a big 

 kitchener in full blast, and the first 

 thing I noticed was a Bullfinch in a 

 cage hanging by a nail against the 

 wall. The bird sat on its perch, motion- 

 less and silent, and on taking the cage 

 down I saw that it had not been cleaned 

 for many days. I told her that it 

 was a most cruel thing to keep the 

 bird in a dirty cage in that close hot 

 air, and her excuse was that her husband 

 was absent and she had no time to 

 attend to the bird. 



I took the cage out and cleaned it 

 and hung it up in a shady place, then 

 found a little groundsel and other green- 

 stuff for the bird. This I did every 

 day, always telling her that I would 

 not allow the Bullfinch to remain in 

 such conditions when I went away. 

 And her reply always was that I could 

 have the bird when her husband came 

 back. Without his permission she could 

 not let it go. But he had not returned 

 when my time at Seaford was up, and 

 I had to go elsewhere. After packing 

 my bag I went into the kitchen and 

 settled my bill, then, taking the cage 

 down, I transferred the Bullfinch to a 

 small perforated cardboard box I had 

 provided myself with ; and while I was 

 occupied doing this she stood looking 

 on saying, " You must not take the 

 bird, my husband will be angry with 



me for letting it go ; you mustn't, 

 you mustn't." The bird safe in mv 

 box, I took out a half-crown piece and 

 put it on the table : " That's for the 

 bird," I said, and she replied, " No, 

 you mustn't," but at the same time 

 picked up the half-crown and put it in 

 her purse. 



At Lewes I got out of the train just 

 to give the bird its freedom : I had 

 thought of the Abbey garden as an 

 ideal spot for the purpose ; it was 

 private, shaded by trees, full of wild 

 birds, and the keeper I knew as a bird 

 lover. Once inside the grounds I opened 

 the box, and the Bullfinch fluttered 

 out on to the grass. He appeared wild 

 with astonishment, craning his neck 

 and looking all round, then fluttering 

 a yard or two further away, but unable 

 to fly. Presently he recovered a little 

 from his excitement and began to 

 examine the grass and herbage about 

 him, and then to taste the green buds 

 and leaves. This tasting occupied him 

 some time, and at intervals he looked 

 up and piped Ins little plaintive note, 

 now becoming louder each time it was 

 uttered. Then all at once the impulse 

 to fly came to him, and first fluttering 

 over the grass he succeeded in rising 

 and flew straight away to a distance 

 of forty or fifty yards, where a stone 

 wall, a remnant of the ancient Abbey, 

 stood in his way. He failed to rise 

 high enough to get over and so came 

 fluttering to the ground. There he again 

 began looking about him, and finding 

 something to his liking, spent two or 

 three minutes in biting at it. Then 

 once more he was seized with the desire 

 to fly, and on this occasion rose higher 

 and flew further and finally settled 

 on a low branch of an elm tree. There 

 the wind caught him and almost upset 

 him, but it appeared to have an 



