BIEDS OP PKEY. 43 



situation, wlien we went to feed some pheasants 

 early one morning. They had all escaped, but 

 they did not return for three hours and their 

 peace of mind was gone. For days afterwards, 

 at the slightest alarm from one of the hens, or 

 at the mere sight of a passing gull, they would 

 all disappear from our very feet into a neigh- 

 bouring piece of potatoes with a celerity wdiich 

 was quite wonderful. 



Let any mother imagine that she has to 

 give her children all their meals in the open 

 air, where they are hkely to be seen and 

 carried off by an eagle at any moment, their 

 chance of safety consisting in her keeping 

 watch and screaming ' hide ' when he appears, 

 upon which they must all dive headlong under 

 the table, and she will have some idea of the 

 situation. 



The inhabitants of an Indian village which 

 is infested by man-eating tigers could understand 

 better than we can the position in which birds 

 are placed in countries that abound with hawks. 



