210 



MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



I have noted over fifty different kinds of bird visitors in the 

 garden, and, as far as I can tell, none of these perpetrate any 

 harm worth mentioning. Sparrows build their untidy homes 

 every year in the nest boxes close to the dining-room door, and, 

 although they are fond of nipping off the petals of Primrose or 

 Polyanthus in Spring, they do far more good than harm. They 

 pick off Aphides and caterpillars, and are fond of catching 

 Gnats. 



The Robin is a constant visitor, and it is delightful to watch 

 this lustrous-eyed bird of stately gait and ruddy breast bathing 

 in the earthenware pan of water which we put out for the birds 

 all the year round. Once only has the Redbreast nested in the 

 garden, but it was an auspicious event, as I introduced into the 

 nest an egg of the Yellow Bunting, with the result that the Robins 

 not only reared their own young, but also brought -up the baby 

 Bunting, whose picture is here shown. 



FIG. 85. Youxa YELLOW BUNTING. 



Our nesting boxes always attract Blue and Great Tits, and 

 their visits are doubly welcome in Winter, when we fill coconut 

 husks with boiled fat. We are never tired of watching their 

 engaging exhibitions of balancing on the suspended husk, and 



