CHAPTER V. 



IN FOREST AND COPSE. 



PERHAPS the avifauna of ihe woods and coppices, 

 in northern and southern shires alike, is more 

 similar in its general aspects than that of any other 

 special localities with the same difference of latitude 

 between them. Nevertheless there are southern 

 species absent from these northern woodlands, and 

 others common enough up here that are not seen in 

 the counties of the south. Then again some species 

 become rarer or commoner in the north, as the case 

 may be, or exactly the reverse; or we shall find not 

 a little difference in the habits of some of these 

 woodland birds, as compared with those of southern 

 haunts, and also in many cases considerable variation 

 in the date of the arrival or departure of migratory 

 species. 



We confess at the beginning of this chapter to a 

 very decided partiality for well-timbered districts, for 

 woods and shrubberies, grand old forests and more 

 youthful coppices; for, apart from the natural beauty 

 of these sylvan spots, they are such favourite haunts 

 of birds. For many years we lived almost sur- 

 rounded by woodlands, and in some directions could 



