BIRDS IN THE GREENWOODS 247 



" rother's sides." And again I wonder why there are 

 not more professional tree-creepers, why countries so 

 rich and defenceless are not more invaded, in the 

 name of something or other high-sounding — evolution 

 will here serve the turn. But, in spite of this abund- 

 ance, the tree-creeper does not quite confine himself 

 to searching the bark of trees, for I have seen him, 

 on one occasion, dart suddenly out and catch a fly, 

 or other insect, in the air, returning immediately after- 

 wards to his tree again. To my surprise, I cannot 

 find this in my notes, but, as my memory is quite 

 clear upon the point, I mention it. This is another 

 method of procuring food, which, as an occasional 

 practice, is widely disseminated amongst our smaller 

 birds, and here again one wonders why it has only 

 become a fixed habit with the fly-catcher. However, 

 I have seen a male chaffinch dash from the bank of 

 a river and catch may-flies in mid-stream, sometimes 

 a little and sometimes only just above the surface of 

 the water, several times in succession, so that, in this 

 case also, we see the possible beginnings of another 

 species. 



I have forgotten to admire the tree-creeper — I 

 mean as a thing of beauty. To do so is a very 

 refined sensation, he is so neutral-tinted and half- 

 shady. One is an aesthete for the time, but the next 

 blue-tit dethrones one, for one has to admire him too, 

 and he, with his briskness and his Christian name of 

 Tom, is hardly aesthetic. The hardiness of these 

 little creatures — I am speaking here of the tits, but 

 to both it would apply — is wonderful — quite wonder- 

 ful. They are downy iron, soft little colour-flakes 

 of nature's very hardest material. It is now — for 



