220 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



culty. In fact, the bird-preserver told me that if 

 I had not been a special friend of his, he would 

 have thrown up the job. The man who brought 

 the bramblings informed me " they bramblings hed 

 bin a middlin' good thing for him, fur a real gentle- 

 man as he knowed on took all he could ketch : he 

 said they wus as good as some birds as he'd eat 

 in furrin parts. I made bold," said he, " to ask 

 what they birds might ha' been, an' he told me they 

 wus ortlins. Queer names they has fur critters in 

 furrin parts." 



Missel - thrushes, song - thrushes, and blackbirds 

 flock to the yew-trees for their luscious berries ; so 

 do other birds, but the thrush family contrive to 

 keep a monopoly of the yews. We have been taught 

 by some theologians that " birds in their little nests 

 agree " : they certainly do not do so when feeding. 

 I have been standing hidden in the middle of a bush 

 close to some yew-trees, and have witnessed a scene 

 of scolding, wrangling, and some battles-royal, not 

 to be surpassed in human life. The scarlet-vermilion 

 berries are in profusion on the trees, and they cover 

 the ground below in spots over which a more than 

 usually energetic struggle has been taking place. 



