CHAPTER II 



MANY BUDS, SOME BLOOM, AND THE EARLY BIRD 



Feb. How baffling is the problem of the birds ! It beats at 

 us sharply in February, because early flowers are 

 opening in warm places — flowers of a kind that the 

 birds find a peculiar pleasure in pulling to pieces. And 

 then, still more serious, there is the question of the fruit 

 buds. The fruit lover who is also a bird lovertis non- 

 plussed when sparrows strip his Gooseberry bushes of 

 their buds, and finches wanton with the fat treasure- 

 houses of the Pears and Plums. Our sympathies are 

 with him, for we, too, are gardeners, and we know how 

 poignant the sorrow is. 



Birds have multiplied greatly in gardens of recent 

 years, partly, perhaps, as a result of the Wild Birds' 

 Protection Acts (which create a close time), partly owing 

 to the reduction in the area devoted to cereal crops on 

 the farms, and partly, no doubt, because gardeners 

 themselves have multiplied, and obligingly provided a 

 great deal more food than there used to be. Of course, 

 the Acts do not debar a person from killing birds on 

 his own property if he thinks proper to do so, although 

 many people are under the mistaken impression that 

 they do. But who can kill a bird without bitter pangs ? 

 It is almost as bad as having to cut down a tree. I do 

 not believe that birds should be killed, except in entirely 

 special circumstances. The most that I can find it in my 

 heart to say is, that I think one or two kinds might be 

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