194 BIRDS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE 



black necks, the water-hens with their red lamps and 

 flicking striped tails were doing all manner of interesting 

 things. Yet these birds, performing their monotonous 

 routine, seemed to make the others commonplace. The 

 distinction may partly be due to the affectionate 

 contact they kept with one another, partly to the 

 effortless precision of their movements, and partly 

 to their perfect adaptation to their home, since the 

 greater the absorption of an object into its natural 

 environment, the truer and stronger the impression 

 upon its observer. Grebes, little and great, are far 

 more aquatic than amphibious mallard and water-hen 

 (who feed in troops on the meadows like hens) or pon- 

 derous coot. 



Over the whole common I found but three linnet 

 sprites, launched like shots from a fairy gun through 

 the air and in full melody. It is easy to tell linnets 

 in flight, even when silent, so high and with such 

 velocity and buoyancy do they career along. Then, 

 in a breath, down they come sheer, as though the 

 wind of inspiration had blown itself suddenly out, or 

 round they steer in another direction, as it catches 

 them in flank. This fine common should swarm with 

 them, but that blight, that ferret, the bird-catcher, has 

 doubtless done his work here as elsewhere, though 

 linnets, like goldfinches, are such air-trotters that one 

 grasps the benefit of the doubt, whether fallacious 

 or no. 



An odd experience I had in this part of the common 

 was the sight of a wren on the branch of a stunted 

 willow within two feet of the ground scolding a large 

 adder. The snake's head was raised and swaying, and 

 it regarded the wren, so vehemently denouncing it, 

 with an imperturbable cold stare like the stare of 

 Ozymandias's " shattered visage " over the desert. I 

 have no doubt that the wren would soon have fallen 

 into the adder's jaws, and though theoretically I do 

 not believe in sentimental meddling with the inter- 

 relations of wild animals, yet I stamped and saved 

 the wren who promptly transferred his abuse to me. 

 Yet we hesitate to allow human characteristics to birds ! 



