WINTER SHIFTS. 221 



Where the boughs have had most light and warmth 

 there is, of course, more fruit, and the largest and 

 ripest, and the birds feed there voraciously. The 

 perfection of bird-diet they find it. On one heavily 

 berried branch three missel - thrushes settle : one 

 fine fellow screams defiance at the other two, who 

 will not see the matter in the same light. So a 

 conflict ensues : at it they go, feathers flying and 

 floating away in all directions. It ends in the fine 

 bully having the bough all to himself, but minus 

 quite half the berries, which have been threshed 

 off in the scuffle. He does not long enjoy his 

 position unmolested, for as he raises his head to 

 take a look round before feeding, showing a beauti- 

 ful spotted breast, a couple of robins, the fighters 

 of the woodlands, make a dash at him, knocking 

 him off his spray of yew. And so the game goes on 

 from morn till eve, screechings, duckings, chirp- 

 ings, and flutterings amongst those yew-trees. 



The squirrel also appreciates the berries highly. 

 I have just seen one of the prettiest sights possible, 

 a squirrel feeding on them in most dainty fashion. 

 The pulp is of a sweet glutinous nature very sticky, 

 in fact. To see the way the little fellow glided over 



