68 IN A CHESHIRE GARDEN 



large flock. I have never seen one in the 

 garden itself, but not far away I think I 

 caught sight of a small flock in March, 1899. 



Far more interesting than stuffed speci- 

 mens in a museum (how seldom, even at 

 South Kensington, do you see small birds 

 well set up, even sufficiently well to recognize 

 the bird when met with alive!); far more 

 interesting is such an outdoor aviary as one 

 finds near the Town Hall in Warrington, 

 where the birds appear to want nothing to 

 make their lives ideally happy. In this 

 aviary bramblings seem quite at home, and 

 may be seen in best condition of health and 

 feather. 



Lesser redpoles, which here they call 

 " jitties," I have seen close to the garden, 

 and on the other side of the village they are 

 common. I have heard of one boy catching 

 50 in a season with birdlime; for these he 

 got a few pence apiece in Warrington. 



A lesser redpole was given me in 1900, 

 and a very engaging little bird he was. 

 Though supposed to be freshly caught he 

 was tame when first I had him, and in a very 

 short time seemed hardly to know fear. 



We used to let him out of his cage every 

 day for an hour or so at a time. He enjoyed 

 this immensely, and we had great difficulty 

 in shutting him up again. He seemed fond 

 of his cage, and would be continually going 

 into it, but directly we went near to shut the 



