THE PLOUGHMAN'S QUEUE 



They follow it, furrow after furrow, hours at a 

 stretch. When the ploughman has ended his fur- 

 row, and driven his horses to the other line, the 

 birds will wait at hand till he has turned up eight or 

 ten yards of soil, then fly down behind him and feed 

 eagerly on the food which has been brought to the 

 surface. He advances another ten yards they are 

 up and after him again ; and so on with curious 

 regularity ; the starlings always being the boldest, 

 approaching nearer to the plough than the rooks do. 

 Watching the procession behind the plough- 

 share, it has struck me the birds take a part in the 

 grand task of preparing the soil for the crop, almost 

 comparable with that of harrow or roller. If some 

 machine or chemical agency could be devised for 

 ridding the soil of hurtful grubs, the farmer might 

 do well without birds. But, even then, might not 

 the cost of the method be greater than the loss 

 which he suffers through the birds eating his grain ? 



Water Vole and Stoat 



Craft, cruelty, concentration these, with a won- 

 derful suppleness, are the characteristics of the stoat 

 on the track of its victim. No English animal or 

 prey has the stoat's reputation for devilry ; perhaps 

 the weasel would have it were he as showy. The 

 hawk furnishes a fine image when we wish to 

 describe some human act of prey ; but the hawk, in 

 the act of striking the bird or mouse, does not 

 convey quite that impression of devilry which the 



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