Hedgerow Life 
Then, when it is quite firm, it holds on 
tightly and hammers at the nut with its 
strong, pointed beak until it has made a 
jagged hole, out of which it picks the 
nut and promptly eats it. The field- 
mice also eat a great many, but have 
to work very hard, because their teeth, 
although they are sharp enough, are still 
so much smaller than the squirrel’s strong 
teeth that it takes them some little time 
before they can bite through the hard 
shell. The other berries and hedge-side 
fruits each have special birds and beasts 
ready to come and feast on them at the 
proper time. When the black privet 
berries are ripe, the bullfinches with their 
black velvet caps come for them. The 
scarlet hips and the ruddy haws feed 
the home and foreign thrushes, and also 
the greenfinch and hawfinch. This last 
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