54 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



for must be enormous : as one watches them come 

 to their nests their mouths and bills appear to be 

 crammed full. A nest of young starlings will keep 

 both parents very busy from morning till night. 

 When the cherries are ripe the starling will cer- 

 tainly have them if he has the chance, as indeed 

 will blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows, chaffinches, and 

 others. Insect and grain eaters, all like cherries 

 more or less. If you look at the bunch of birds 

 a cherry-minder has in his hand when he leaves 

 the orchard at night, you will be surprised to see 

 what different species visit the trees. Those that 

 are not able to swallow a cherry whole peck at it ; 

 the starling is not alone in this matter. 



Looking at the matter all round, and weighing 

 the harm these fruit-stealers do against the services 

 they render in our fields and orchards, I say con- 

 fidently the good outweighs the evil ten times. 



Thank God ! the woods and the fields are open 

 to the poorest working naturalist to study in ; so 

 is the highroad. Printed books are good, and 

 helpful too; but the three greatest books given 

 by God to man are free and accessible to the 

 poorest student the book of nature, the book of 



