228 IN THE GREEN LEAF 



southern districts, frequents the beach in num- 

 bers, to feed upon the sea-weeds ; and the 

 foxes come to look after the welfare of the 

 drummers, and of the fish also, if the chance 

 offers. By the way, that local name for the 

 rabbit is very appropriate to him, for he does 

 drum at times ; while the hare certainly boxes, 

 fair and hard. Get as near as you can ; crawl 

 if necessary ; in fact, do anything but show 

 yourself; cut a furze tuft to stick in the ground 

 to hide your face, and patiently watch. One 

 heron at least is fishing, or rather he has been 

 doing so, and something has upset him, and 

 he is rasping out his troubles at a rare rate. 

 As he rises, we can see a mob of hoodie crows 

 set at him, half-a-dozen or so ; they mean him 

 to turn the fish out of his pouch for their 

 benefit. Rooks mob him in the same way, 

 whenever they meet him ; and it is a most in- 

 teresting sight to see how the thieves get above 

 and below the heron, and how he threshes on 

 with his large wings through them all. How 

 it will end this time is a matter for conjecture, 

 as I lose sight of them ; to lie stretched out on 

 the turf, with chin resting on folded arms, limits 

 a man's range of vision. 



A couple of cobs beat up on the hunt ; the 



