ROUND A LONDON COPSE 141 



is more furze, but beside the same hedge. The deter- 

 mination and fierce resolution of the shrike, or butcher- 

 bird, despite his small size, is most marked. One day a 

 shrike darted down from a hedge just before me, not a 

 yard in front, and dashed a dandelion to the ground. 



His claws clasped the stalk, and the flower was 

 crushed in a moment ; he came with such force as to 

 partly lose his balance. His prey was probably a 

 humble-bee which had settled on the dandelion. The 

 shrike's head resembles that of the eagle in miniature. 

 From his favourite branch he surveys the grass, and 

 in an instant pounces on his victim. 



There is a quiet lane leading out of one of the roads 

 which have been mentioned down into a wooded hollow, 

 where there are two ponds, one on each side of the lane. 

 Standing here one morning in the early summer, sud- 

 denly a kingfisher came shooting straight towards me, 

 and swerving a little passed within three yards ; his blue 

 wings, his ruddy front, the white streak beside his neck, 

 and long bill were visible for a moment ; then he was 

 away, straight over the meadows, till he cleared a distant 

 hedge and disappeared. He was probably on his way 

 to visit his nest, for though living by the streams king- 

 fishers often have their nest a considerable way from 

 water. 



Two years had gone by since I saw one here before, 

 perched then on the trunk of a willow which overhangs 

 one of the ponds. After that came the severe winters, 

 and it seemed as if the kingfishers were killed off, for 

 they are often destroyed by frost, so that the bird came 

 unexpectedly from the shadow of the trees, -across the 

 lane, and out into the sunshine over the field. It was 

 a great pleasure to see a kingfisher again. 



This hollow is the very place of singing birds in June. 



