50 THE EARLY DAYS OF 



rick-yards, and even the ivy-mantled tower of the Church formed 

 no certain haven of refuge for their repose, though now I should 

 view such a proceeding as little less than sacrilege. But boys are 

 naturally cruel animals ; and as I disregarded the aphorism, 

 " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," perhaps 

 many will think I am put out of court when I complain of the 

 rough treatment which I received at school. 



Besides killing the robins, occasionally I would tame them, and 

 teach them to fly on to my hand, or take bread from between my 

 lips. Only lately I had two which would fly down from the trees 

 on to my hand or shoulder on being called, much to the surprise of 

 persons looking on, and who did not know before how easily their 

 confidence may be gained. I have determined, however, not to tame 

 any more, as they are certain to come to an untimely end. 



I have never lost m}- taste for bird's-nesting ; but now I am 

 content to view the eggs in situ and leave them there. Nor would 

 it be supposed that I have lost my taste for enticing birds beneath a 

 sieve, as such a trap, or something like one, is before my window 

 now. 



In my youthful days, as I have already said, small birds were 

 scarce, and bullfinches in the village were quite unknown ; but 

 now, from various causes, they abound and do much damage in the 

 garden ; for in the winter the buds of fruit-trees, which form almost 

 their only food, are no bigger than a small pin's head, and as at 

 least five hundred are picked off each day by a single bird, a 

 calculation may easily be made how many embryo gooseberries or 

 plums, a flock of twenty birds, such as I have often seen, will, during 

 the long winter months, consume. 



Frank Buckland had a mistaken notion that these pretty birds do 

 more good than harm, but I imagine there was no garden attached 

 to his London house ; and had he seen, as I do almost every day, 

 these rascals chmbing up the branches, picking off the buds, and 

 eventually destroying the trees themselves, he would proclaim their 

 usefulness no longer. 



