WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



food to be found among the bushes, the hazels 

 are loaded with nuts, and the hedges crimson 

 with hips and haws, so they climb up, going 

 out to the very ends of the branches, and there 

 gather the nuts and berries, carrying them 

 down to feast on and enjoy below. More 

 often than not they carry their booty to some 

 convenient bird's nest, which, deserted since the 

 spring, becomes useful once more ere the 

 winter storms tear it from its place between 

 the forking branches. If you walk along a 

 hedge and note the number of old nests filled 

 to the brim with the red and orange fragments 

 of the hips and haws, you can get some idea 

 of what feasts take place when the berries 

 are ripe. Using these dining tables, the little 

 rascals sit up with their booty clasped in their 

 paws and gnaw away as hard as they can, 

 scattering around them the bits for which they 

 have no use, which crimson remnants will tell 

 the tale next day of the joyous dinner of 

 overnight. 



With acorns, nuts, and other things which 

 can be stored for future use, the mice are more 

 careful. Nearly every long-tailed mouse has 

 its underground home to which it can take 

 treasure-trove. When they sleep in nests up 

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