14 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



old. They were being devoured alive by ants. ... I put 

 the nestlings out of their misery, but felt miserable myself for 

 the remainder of that golden afternoon, thinking that many 

 similar tragedies to that were being enacted in the Bush. The 

 odour and fragrance of the wattle bloom along the creek and 

 the blithe songs of birds failed to cheer for the time." 



He also described finding the nest of a song-thrush (our 

 English bird) with nestlings in a similar state. 



