212 WILD LIFE IN HARD WEATHER 



in hope of discovering some hitherto unexplored 

 locality in which the fleshy acorns lie strewn 

 beneath the trees. Since the first of the frosts 

 occurred, I have noticed this decided change in 

 the habits of the wild pigeons. 



Somewhat similar changes may be observed, 

 in methods of obtaining food, among nearly all 

 wild creatures ; and local migration, which ceased 

 during the mild weather at the beginning of the 

 month, is now plainly recognised by birds, and 

 also by certain mammals, as the surest method 

 whereby to find sustenance, and thus to prolong 

 life under adverse circumstances. One of the 

 most common instances within, perhaps, more 

 limited areas than those affected by the local 

 migration noticeable about the beginning of 

 winter, is shown in the altered habits of even our 

 most familiar birds. Our woodland inhabitants, 

 as a rule, keep to their usual habitats, for there 

 a grateful shelter may be found when in the 

 starry night the pitiless north-east blast, or that 

 tingling stillness which is almost as cruel as the 

 winter wind, brings the blight of the frost on the 

 open fields and moors. Birds would be destroyed 

 in countless numbers by hard weather, and the 

 balance of life in general entirely upset through- 

 out our islands, were it not for the sanctuaries 

 of the woodlands. To these, in time of famine, 

 our little friends resort as to a home where 



