i8o NATURE NEAR LONDON 



and turtle-doves. Thrushes are fond of the ash, and 

 sing much on its boughs. The beech is the wood- 

 pecker's tree so soon as it grows old birch one of the 

 missel-thrush's. 



In blackthorn the long-tailed tit builds the domed 

 nest every one admires. Under the cover of brambles 

 white-throats build. Nightingales love hawthorn, and so 

 does every bird. Plant hawthorn, and almost every bird 

 will come to it, from the wood-pigeon down to the wren. 

 Do not clear away the fallen branches and brown leaves, 

 sweeping the plantation as if it were the floor of a ball- 

 room, for it is just the tangle and the wilderness that 

 brings the birds, and they like the disarray. 



If evergreens are wanted, there are the yew, the box, 

 and holly all three well sanctioned by old custom. 

 Thrushes will come for the yew berries, and birds are 

 fond of building in the thick cover of high box hedges. 

 Notwithstanding the prickly leaves, they slip in and out 

 of the holly easily. A few bunches of rushes and sedges, 

 with some weeds and aquatic grasses, allowed to grow 

 about a pond, will presently bring moorhens. Bare 

 stones perhaps concrete will bring nothing. 



If a bough falls into the water, let it stay ; sparrows 

 will perch on it to drink. If a sandy drinking-place can 

 be made for them the number of birds that will come in 

 the course of the day will be surprising. 



Kind-hearted people, when winter is approaching, 

 should have two posts sunk in their grounds, with planks 

 across at the top ; a raised platform with the edges pro- 

 jecting beyond the posts, so that cats cannot climb up, 

 and of course higher than a cat can spring. The crumbs 

 cast out upon this platform would gather crowds of birds ; 

 they will come to feel at home, and in spring time will 

 return to build and sing. 



