The Confessions of a 'Poacher. 1 7 



innumerable captures to be made among the 

 feathered as well as furred things of the fields 

 and woods. Chaffinches are taken in nooses 

 among the corn, as are larks and buntings. 

 Crisp cresses from the springs constitute an 

 important source of income, and the embrowned 

 nuts of autumn a harvest in themselves. It is 

 during his early days of working upon the 



land that the erstwhile 

 poacher learns of the 

 rain-bringing tides ^ 

 of the time of 

 migration of 

 birds; of the 

 evening gambol- 

 ing of hares ; of 

 the coming to- 

 gether of the 

 partridge to 

 roost ; of the 

 spawning of 

 salmon and 

 trout; and a hun- 

 dred other scraps 



