LEAFLESS WOODS 199 



partridges, a sure sign of reclaimed land ; for 

 the partridge, like the sparrow, follows closely 

 on cultivation. I have seen a covey of par- 

 tridges on the new-made lawn of a new man- 

 sion, and I have known them nest in the first 

 cultivated flower-beds that were ever seen there. 

 If you spring a black-grouse or ring-ouzel, or if 

 you hear the green-sandpiper, rest assured that 

 matters are in a fairly primitive state. 



The last-named bird dashes down in the 

 most unexpected places, but it is only for a 

 moment ; he finds a house and men about 

 where they were never seen by him before, so 

 he just whistles, and flights it. Moorhens are 

 now seen where wild ducks used to be met 

 with ; another sign of cultivation. They come 

 on the lawns from the moor ponds and streams ; 

 and just to show their perfect appreciation, peck 

 the hearts out of the young green stuff, for 

 which they get horse-hair collars, noosed (and 

 quite right too), for thieving. 



The moorhen in his own place is all right, 

 but not when he develops a taste for garden 

 produce. If you wish to see or shoot haw- 

 finches, too, go somewhere where peas are 

 grown in considerable quantities for the table. 

 They don't give the field peas a turn ; they 



