HAMPSHIRE DAYS 



CHAPTER I 



Autumn in the New Forest Red colour in mammals November 

 mildness A house by the Boldre An ideal spot for small 

 birds Abundance of nests Small mammals and the weasel's 

 part Voles and mice Hornet and bank-vole Young shrews 

 A squirrel's visit Green woodpecker's drumming-tree 

 Drumming of other species Beauty of great spotted wood- 

 pecker The cuckoo controversy A cuckoo in a robin's nest 

 Behaviour of the cuckoo Extreme irritability Manner of 

 ejecting 1 eggs and birds from the nest Loss of irritability 

 Insensibility of the parent robins Discourse on mistaken 

 kindness, pain and death in nature, the annual destruction 

 of bird life, and the young cuckoo's instinct. 



HERE, by chance, in the early days of December 1902, 

 at the very spot where my book begins, I am about 

 to bring it to an end. 



A few days ago, coming hither from the higher 

 country at Silchester, where the trees were already 

 nearly bare, I was surprised to find the oak woods of 



