2o4 IN BIRD-LAND 



to be the chief note, the others being merely 

 variations of this. 



In a few moments the bird left its perch and 

 flew on to the sands near the seaweed, walking 

 along the side and peering into and underneath 

 the heaps. Every now and then, leaving the 

 seaweed, it would run with extreme rapidity 

 nearer to the water, picking up something that 

 caught its eye, and then return slowly again 

 towards the seaweed. It had a habit of spinning 

 round very quickly on its feet if it saw anything 

 eatable behind, and so often did it do this, that at 

 times the effect was almost comical. But this is 

 a digression. 



In the hedges that fringe the banks of our 

 Brook many of the smaller kinds of birds will 

 build ; and in places these bushes are so thick, 

 and are so overgrown with woodbine and 

 brambles, that it is impossible to penetrate into 

 them. Hence birds which choose such places 

 for nesting always rear their young in safety, as 

 the nests are never found by the army of birds- 

 nesting boys that infest the neighbourhood. 



At one time Sedge- Warblers used to breed in 

 one of these places ; but the bushes they nested 

 in have recently been cut down and the birds 

 have not returned. 



