The Confessions of a 'Poacher. 9 



grey boles fairy things that offer an endless 

 subject of delight to any young savage, and 

 their capturing draws largely upon his inventive 

 genius. A happy hunting ground is furnished 

 by farmers who require a lad to keep the birds 

 from their young wheat or corn, as when their 

 services are required the country is all like a 

 garden. At this time the birds seem creatures 

 born of the sun, and not only are they seen in 

 their brightest plumage, but when indulging in 

 all their love frolics. By being employed by 

 the farmers the erstwhile poacher is brought 

 right into the heart of the land, and the know- 

 ledge of woodcraft and rural life he there 

 acquires is never forgotten. As likely as not 

 a ditch runs by the side of the wheat 

 fields, and here the water-hen leads out 

 her brood. To the same spot the birds come 

 at noon to indulge their mid- day siesta, and in 

 the deep hole at the end of the cut a shoal of 

 silvery roach fall and rise towards the warm 

 sunlight. Or a brook, which is a tiny trout 

 stream, babbles on through the meadows and 

 pastures, and has its attractions too. A stream 



B2 



