SAMARITANS 59 



told me in the soft melodious burr of the 

 west country how, in his garden that spring, 

 a robin had fed a nest of hedge-sparrows. 



The nest was finished in three days. The 

 lining of feathers was a speedy business, 

 for I scattered a handful on the ground 

 beneath, wishing to give my small aid. I 

 am sure the pair were grateful, for on the 

 fourth day, when I inspected from a ladder, 

 the first egg was laid and the mother was not 

 alarmed by my intrusion. 



This intensive construction is not usual. 

 It is not instinctive. It is the result of 

 reason and decency of life in their colonies. 

 Rooks, being amoral, would not help one 

 another. Martins live together in trust and 

 decency. Who, hearing their song (jumbled 

 though it may be), can doubt this. 



" League of Nations," a simple man had 

 said to me. I wondered if the hopes of 

 Richard Jefferies will ever be fulfilled. 

 Are not the eave -swallows wiser than us ? 

 Sometimes I think so. 



