i2 4 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



to the peas or the strawberries would be dreadful 

 if I did not allow him to have his way. But my 

 answer was invariably the same : ' Never mind 

 the peas. I can buy them if I want them ; but 

 I cannot buy birds, and I prefer them to the 

 peas.' I fear he cherished feelings of dire hatred 

 towards my poor birds, but I am bound to say 

 he never attempted to make away with a single 

 nest. He was perfectly right in his opinion, and 

 they did play havoc with the peas ; but, all the 

 same, I had plenty for my own consumption, and 

 managed to retain my birds also. 



A relation of a friend of mine, who lived in 

 the neighbourhood of London, and who was 

 passionately fond of birds, yet dreadfully afraid 

 of his gardener, used to remove the netting 

 from the strawberry-beds on Sunday when the 

 gardener was absent, in order to let the birds 

 feast on the fruit. 



I fear that the prolonged and severe weather 

 which prevails at the time I write must cause 

 the death of numbers of our birds from hunger, 

 thirst, and cold. In the towns and the suburbs 

 they fare better than in the country, as most 

 people nowadays remember the birds, and food 

 is plentifully bestowed ; but I dread to think what 

 must have been the fate of many of our country 

 birds. The kingfishers must have been nearly 

 decimated, and numbers of them will, I fear, 

 be found dead in the streams when the thaw 

 comes. 



