MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE. 51 



I can tolerate the presence of any other bird, for with the aid 

 of nets, cotton, and wire guards, I can Hmit their depredations. 

 But it is impossible to cover high trees eifectually with nets, 

 particularly in winter, for the first fall of snow lodging on the net 

 would break the branches down. Consequently there is war between 

 the bullfinches and me. During a deep snow I caught nineteen 

 bullfinches under my sieve, though, perhaps, some may say, " Why 

 not make it a score at once ? " But, like the Yankee sportsman — 

 who declared he had killed nine hundred and ninetj^-nine pigeons at 

 a single shot — I must respectfully decline to record what is not 

 strictly true for the sake of a paltry bullfinch. I put all my captives 

 into cages, where they seemed as happy as the day — plenty to eat 

 and drink, constant society, no rates nor taxes ; what more could 

 they possibly want ? But a tender-hearted lady opened their prison 

 doors one day and let them fly, with the result that they refused to be 

 enticed again. They build their nests in the trees around my house, 

 in company with countless other birds, and all of them appear to 

 think that' my garden belongs to them, and was created solely for 

 their pleasure ; and, after all, I should be sorry to live here without 

 them and their never-ceasing melody in Spring. 



There is a good deal of hypocris}' often perpetrated regarding the 

 destruction of birds and animals in gardens and elsewhere. That 

 arrant humbug, Friar Tuck, when he grew too fat to hunt, protested, 

 we are told, against anyone hurting the " pretty deer ; " and people 

 who have been remorseless bird-nesters in their youthful days will 

 occasionally rate their children for taking eggs. One old lady, whose 

 homilies we often meet with in children's books, and who rejoices, by 

 the way, I think, in the appropriate name of Walker, tells us in pious 

 grief how she rebukes her offspring for chasing a gaudy butterfly ; 

 but being asked whether she extends her protection to slugs and 

 snails, she naively answers, " No ! because they eat the fruit ! " 

 indeed, she may be seen dipping such things into boiling water or 

 "sugaring" them with hme. Her infirmity and age preclude her 

 from joining in the chase, but like Waterton's " Daddy Quashi," she 



