Castles in the Air. 49 



the aggrieved couple returns, and makes an effort to 

 protect his property, the impudent thief actually buffets 

 him off and helps himself to another handful. 



There is no honour among these thieves, and that 

 is the reason, no doubt, why so many nests are 

 guarded by one owner while the other is foraging 

 abroad. 



Sometimes three or four pirates will put their dark 

 heads together and make a sudden descent on even a 

 guarded nest, driving the owner, dismayed by the odds 

 against him, off in headlong flight, and then coolly 

 help themselves to any handy sticks that may take 

 their fancy. 



Quarrels of this kind are not conducted in silence, 

 and there is a good deal of plain language when a nest 

 is approached, whether with peaceable intentions or 

 not, by those who are not on visiting terms with the 

 tenants. 



It is a peaceful spot the birds have chosen for their 

 home. One is tempted to fancy that these stately 

 elms, screening with sheltering arms the old church 

 that nestles close under the shadow of the hill, were 

 standing here, in the pride of youth and beauty, when 

 the ill news travelled fast across the marshes, from the 

 low blue hills to the eastward, that the bolt had fallen at 

 last, and that the glory of the great abbey had departed. 



The knoll above is crowned by the ramparts of 

 a Celtic camp. Traditions of King Arthur's time 

 peopled the fortress with a race of giants. Stray hand- 



4 



