SOME FEATHERED BUILDERS 33 



beech under the roots of which our friar has his 

 home. On our side some of the huge limbs 

 almost touch the ground. Quietly crawling up 

 one of these, we perch close to the trunk and 

 wait. 



At times the beauties of Nature are seen under 

 difficulties. The moon clears the shoulder of 

 the hill and rises in the sky, and from the rank 

 undergrowth beneath us the midges rise also. 

 For a whole hour we have to put up with their 

 horrible tortures, until nose, face, and hands 

 get bumps ; then with a crash we drop off our 

 perch, and rush out on to the open heath. Not 

 for a sackful of badgers could we bear that 

 torture another five minutes. These midges 

 can make a very purgatory of the woodlands. 



The young badgers are carefully tended, and 



when at play they are most droll in their antics 



theirs is a kind of deliberate playfulness. In 



some counties they are called cubs, in others 



the young go by the name of badger-pigs. 



I can still talk or write about the Raptores 

 the birds of prey ; for the buzzards both kinds, 

 the so - called common and the rough - legged 

 buzzard with the harrier's hen and Montagu's 

 harrier, are to be met with in places known to 

 myself. So is the merlin. It is a matter for 



