30 RIVERSIDE LETTERS IV 



wind, reminding me of a fleet of luggers at 

 anchor. They seemed to hold on with great 

 ease. The sight reminded me of a fact about 

 birds, which Sir Edwin Landseer once pointed 

 out to me, namely, that all birds, when perched 

 on trees or bushes, serve as weather cocks, as 

 they invariably arrange themselves head to 

 wind. He told me that he found this fact 

 most useful in deer-stalking, as he could always 

 determine which way the wind was blowing 

 on a distant hill, a most important knowledge 

 in deer-stalking, by observing the birds with 

 his field-glass. The reason of the bird's 

 position is easily understood when we con- 

 sider the set of its plumage and call to mind 

 the ridiculous and uncomfortable objects our 

 domestic poultry look when running, as sailors 

 say, before the wind, their tails blown open 

 over their backs and the birds almost blown 

 off their legs. 



March came in this year as a lion, but 

 thank goodness a west wind lion, and the 

 proverbial peck of dust is at present wanting 



