WINTER SHIFTS. 291 



deliberately extracting seed after seed, and separ- 

 ating the dark husk from the snowy fruit inside. 

 He Is a most selfish bird, and if a companion 

 comes along to partake of a share the fellow in 

 possession angrily opens his mouth, spreads his 

 wings, and threatens the most dreadful things, 

 but this is generally mere bluster, and it is seldom 

 followed by a square and earnest battle. Some- 

 times an impudent old oxeye will rush in and 

 extract a seed from beneath the very bill of the 

 astonished greenfinch. 



Starlings are often reduced to terrible straits 

 of privation by prolonged periods of severe 

 weather. At such times the flayed carcase of a 

 sheep or cow lying on the snow is a veritable 

 godsend. It is visited all day long by a busy, 

 tugging, chattering crowd, full of bickerings and 

 false alarms. When hard pressed by hunger, 

 these birds will even descend dark rabbit burrows 

 in search of food. 



The frail brown wren hunts diligently through- 

 out the winter months for torpid flies, spiders, 

 and other small deer lurking amongst the moss- 

 clad stones of old dry walls, under banks, and 

 stumps of trees. 



Robin redbreasts seem to spend the whole of 

 the winter months in fighting and feeding, with 

 a little snatch of song now and again in praise of 

 their accomplishments in both directions. It is 



