ABUNDANCE OF NESTS 7 



and put one's hand into half-a-dozen nests of almost any 

 of these species. And very many of them had become 

 partial to the old buildings: even in closed rooms 

 where it was nearly dark, not only wrens, robins, tits, 

 and wagtails, but blackbirds and throstles and chaf- 

 finches were breeding, building on beams and in or 

 on the old nests of swallows and martins. The haw- 

 finch and bullfinch were also there, the last rearing 

 its brood within eight yards of the front door. One 

 of his two nearest neighbours was a gold -crested 

 wren. When the minute bird was sitting on her 

 eggs, in her little cradle-nest suspended to a spray of 

 the yew, every day I would pull the branch down so 

 that we might all enjoy the sight of the little fairy 

 bird in her fairy nest which she refused to quit. The 

 other next-door neighbour of the bullfinch was the 

 long-tailed tit, which built its beautiful little nest on 

 a terminal spray of another yew, ten or twelve yards 

 from the door; and this small creature would also 

 let us pull the branch down and peep into her well- 

 feathered interior. 



It seemed that from long immunity from persecution, 

 all these small birds had quite lost their fear of human 

 beings; but in late May and in June, when many 

 young birds were out of the nest, one had to walk 

 warily in the grass for fear of putting a foot on some 

 little speckled creature patiently waiting to be visited 

 and fed by its parents. 



Nor were there birds only. Little beasties were also 



