252 WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



thousand hedge accentors, scraping among the 

 withered leaves of one hedgerow, would find but 

 starvation rations. 



The seed-eating birds, on the other hand, which 

 drop down on the stubble-fields, where the winds 

 of last autumn, or the passage of the reaping 

 machine have shed countless grains : or on the 

 full stackyard, where the fruits of the earth have 

 been gathered, and of which they take their 

 share without so much as saying " By your leave " ; 

 or are contented with the plentiful supply of 

 groundsel, or plantain, or grass seed which nature 

 has spread over wild and waste places, congregate, 

 because where one can find food, a thousand may. 



The whole matter of winter flocking remains 

 to be determined. In the case of migrants, which 

 join in the passage, and scatter at either end, it 

 has plainly some close connection with the dangers 

 of the journey, and the safety which the individual 

 finds in the mass. Some such motive may incline 

 our seed birds, which are not kept apart by the 

 stronger necessity of getting sufficient food, to live 

 and move in societies. 



The advantage of a winter walk is its delight- 

 ful freedom from restraint. The fields are bare, 

 and even the gateways have been left invitingly 



