TO MERVYN POWYS MONTAGU HARRIERS 143 



the winter months, but his heart was always 

 at Lilford, and he longed for his return in the 

 spring. 



The following letters from my brother were 

 written between the years 1886 and 1896 : 



To his nephew, Mervyn Powys, at Cambridge. 



1 45 Brook Street, London : May 9, 1886. 



' My dear Mervyn, The Grasshopper War- 

 bler is by no means a rare bird, but the nest is 

 very difficult to find. I should imagine that 

 most of those found in the Fen are discovered 

 by mowers when cutting the grass. If your 

 Montagu Harriers are really nesting in said Fen, 

 the nest might easily be found by watching the 

 male bird with a binocular, as he feeds his wife 

 without alighting by hovering for a few minutes, 

 and dropping food to her on the nest. In any 

 case I hope the parents will escape, as this sort 

 of bird is becoming much too rare in this country. 

 It is impossible for me to form an idea as to what 

 the mysterious white eggs brought by Ward may 

 be, especially as you do not tell me in what sort 

 of locality or nest they were found. Robins, 



