ROUND HOUSE AND GARDEN 



211 



noting the unfailing regularity with which they contrive to 

 arrive for their own provender at our mealtime. 



In the Laurel, Yew, and Arbor Vitas, the sooty Blackbird, 

 speckled Thrush, and homely Hedge Accentor nest every year, 

 and great pleasure is derived from watching the fledglings until 

 they leave the nest. Swallows, Martins, and Swifts wheel round 

 the house and garden all through the long days of Summer, and 

 impudent Starlings perch on the chimney pots, and utter in- 

 describable notes when in a jocund frame of mind. 



Saucy Jays come to steal the stray peas early in the morning ; 

 the handsome Bullfinch is also an early visitor, when the fruit 

 buds are ready, and White- 

 throats, both Lesser and 

 Greater, together with Willow 

 Wren and Chiff-Chaff, come 

 to feed on the Apple and 

 Rose Aphis. I do not grow 

 soft fruits so that I know 

 what attracts them, and, 

 moreover, I have watched 

 these soft-bitted birds at their 

 useful work. 



The Chaffinch is, for some 

 unknown reason, a rare garden 

 visitor with- me, but the 

 Greenfinch is fond of eating 

 the seeds of a Teasel plant 

 which I found attracted this species, and the sprightly Gold- 

 finch, and even the wee Goldcrest, visits the shrubs in the front 

 garden for insect food. Cotoneaster berries, richly decorative 

 in Autumn, are much sought after by Thrushes, Blackbirds, 

 and Redwings, and what few snails there exist are made short 

 work of by the first -named. 



The Cuckoo often flies over during May and June, and I 

 frequently espy a Kestrel hovering aloft in search of prey. 

 At night the ghostly form of a Barn, or Long-eared, Owl flits 

 by the garden lover in the fading light, and the Little Owl 

 is a frequent haunter of the immediate neighbourhood. I am 

 fortunate in my bird tenants as, opposite my house, there 

 is a wooded area of eighty acres, which, if permitted to 

 remain untouched, will for many years constitute a pleasant 

 sanctuary for wild life, and it is largely owing to this that 



FIG. 86. LONG-EARED OWL. 



