TWO COMMON BIRDS 



troubled to find food. The worst winter for 

 birds that I remember was that of 1916-17. 

 It began early, and continued with few breaks 

 late into the spring. The greater number of 

 birds departed early, only a few blackbirds 

 and one or two thrushes being left. The diffi- 

 culty of finding food in the frozen and snow- 

 bound countryside made them piteously tame 

 and friendly. The thrushes suffered most, for 

 they do not care for berries, on which black- 

 birds can not only live but flourish. As a 

 matter of fact the bushes were soon cleared of 

 such provender. The invading flocks of red- 

 wings and fieldfares finished them and then 

 went on south. The thrushes hunted the 

 hedgerows carefully for hidden snails among 

 the undergrowth, but most of these were 

 tucked away too deep to be found. The poor 

 birds grew weaker and weaker, they would 

 hardly hop out of one's way, their feathers stood 

 on end not only from cold but from starvation, 

 and they died in hundreds. They suffered 

 most in Cornwall, for the different kinds kept 

 moving on south before the cold, but when they 

 got that far were too weak to face the Chan- 

 nel crossing, so * they frequented little town 

 gardens, tripping feebly on tiny grass-plots in 



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