6 BIRD NOTES 



the day is wet and everything is more than usually 

 quiet. 



Owls abound here also, and much do I love to 

 hear their weird cry at nights when the first frosts 

 come ; but I have never had the good fortune to 

 see one. A servant of mine, not remarkably 

 truthful, I must admit, once told me that she had 

 seen a row of small ones sitting on the garden 

 wall when she opened the kitchen door one night. 

 And once, when I was watching from dark to sun- 

 rise at an upper window, looking east, I saw what 

 may have been an owl flitting away into the 

 shades, just as things of light were beginning to 

 arouse themselves. 



There is a little grove of tall trees just within 

 sight of my windows, and beyond ' The Lawn.' 

 The river flows and sings over a shallow bed of 

 flints most musically there, below the bank on 

 which the trees stand, and on the opposite side are 

 meadows and hedges. That is a capital place for 

 watching birds. I have seen a flock of the large 

 blackheaded tit there, but only once ; I do not 

 think they flock together much. A handsome 

 bird it is, but not graceful or interesting. 



The reach of the river opposite these houses 

 is, I think, the prettiest ; but there are other tree- 

 bordered nooks and curves with pleasant meadow 

 banks. How long, I wonder, will there be any- 



