162 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



round the garden so quietly and unobtrusively that 

 unless you watch carefully you will not see him. Yet 

 he does not seem shy, and if you sit still will come 

 along the hawthorn within a yard. 



In the thatch under the eaves of the cellar, which 

 are not more than four feet from the ground, and 

 come up to the ivy of the gable the wren has a nest. 

 Some birds seem always to make their nests in one 

 particular kind of way, and generally in the same kind 

 of tree or bush ; robins, house-sparrows, and starlings, 

 on the other hand, adjust their nests to all sorts of 

 places. 



The window of a room in which I used to sleep over- 

 looked the orchard, and there was a pear tree trained 

 against the wall, some of the boughs of which came 

 up to the window-sill. This pear tree acted as a ladder, 

 up which the birds came. Pear trees are a good deal 

 frequented by many birds ; their rough bark seems 

 to shelter numerous insects. The window was left open 

 all night in the sultry summer weather, and presently 

 a robin began to come in very early in the morning. 

 Encouraged by finding that no one disturbed him, at 

 last he grew bold enough to perch morning after morn- 

 ing on the rail at the foot of my bed. First he seemed 

 to examine the inside of the window, then went on the 

 floor, and, after a good look round, finally finished by 

 sitting, on the wooden framework for a few minutes 

 before departing. 



This went on some time ; then a wren came too ; 

 she likewise looked to see if anything edible could be 



