EARLY JUNE—OUR LAST EXCURSION 163 
into the grass, but thus betrayed her home. 
It was adomed nest amongst tall grass on the 
ground, roofed with dried grass, and had a 
large opening on one side; it was concealed 
from view but was now dilapidated. Whenwe 
got to it six youngsters scrambled out ; I had 
hoped they would keep still for a photograph. 
There were no magpies here, and scarcely 
any jays. Gamekeepers invariably destroy 
these birds which are incorrigible egg robbers, 
and the men think only of the game they 
have to protect and produce for their em- 
ployers when the first of September and of 
October come round. Linnets and _ gold- 
finches were missing, too. The young rooks 
were flown, and no carrion crows frequented 
these parts. And there were no ferns! We 
concluded that they had all been removed 
to gardens long ago, or dug up by hawkers for 
sale. The soil and damp, together with the 
abundance of shade, made this an ideal 
nursery forthem. It must be for such reasons 
that ferns are never seen until you get far 
out into the less visited country. At the 
