RED-LETTER DAYS AMONG BIRDS 57 



of bygone days, each memory helping to weld together the links 

 of a chain, which, though never to be completed in the lifetime 

 of an individual, is one long succession of fragrant recollections. 

 The Goldfinch has appealed strongly to me in later years, 

 especially since it was threatened with extinction. I was pleased 

 to have a hand in its better protection and preservation in my 

 native shire, and notice on many excursions now how its numbers 

 have perceptibly increased. The active and engaging habits of 

 this scarlet-headed, golden-winged Finch must surely win the 

 heart of every bird-lover, and the merry twitter that is uttered 

 by such a jocund fellow pleases our sense of sound as the bird's 

 efforts to extract the seed from a silky thistle-head does our 

 sense of sight. 



FIG. 20. YOUNG FLYCATCHERS. 



Even in daytime I have, on several occasions, had opportunities 

 for studying at close quarters the ghostly form of the Barn Owl, 

 and noted with interest its trim attire and noiseless flight. On 

 one occasion I found the mangled remains of one of these birds 

 upon a keeper's gibbet, and, whilst mourning the decease of so 

 inoffensive a creature, I perceived in the tall laurel bush overhead 

 its living mate, evidently keeping vigil over the body of its dead 

 consort. 



Fields and field-paths have always lured me from the noisy, 

 dust-laden, and motor-haunted highway, and, in the depth of 



