viii Wild Life in a Southern County 



ways, for instance, of so common a bird as the starling, it 

 cannot be separated from the farmhouse in the thatch of 

 which it often breeds, the rooks with whom it associates, 

 or the friendly sheep upon whose backs it sometimes rides. 

 Since the subjects are so closely connected, it is best, 

 perhaps, to take the places they prefer for the convenience 

 of division, and group them as far as possible in the 

 districts they usually frequent. 



The following chapters have, therefore, been so arranged 

 as to correspond in some degree with the contour of the 

 country. Commencing at the highest spot, an ancient 

 entrenchment on the Downs has been chosen as the start- 

 ing-place from whence to explore the uplands. Beneath 

 the hill a spring breaks forth, and, tracing its course 

 downwards, there next come the village and the hamlet. 

 Still farther the streamlet becomes a broad brook, flowing 

 through meadows in the midst of which stands a solitary 

 farmhouse. The house itself, the garden and orchard, are 

 visited by various birds and animals. In the fields imme- 

 diately around in the great hedges and the copse are 

 numerous others, and an expedition is made to the forest. 

 Returning to the farm again as a centre, the rookery 

 remains to be examined, and the ways and habits of the 

 inhabitants of the hedges. Finally come the fish and wild- 

 fowl of the brook and lake \ finishing in the Yale. 



B. J. 



