230 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



or winded, there will be short but very deadly work 

 for either hare or rabbit. 



A change comes ; the winds get up in the north, 

 then shift to the north-east, whence they blow as 

 nor'-easters will blow, whirling the snow off large 

 fields, to deposit it in huge drifts in the roads, 

 blocking them up. At night the winds sink again, 

 and it is clear and dry; the stars twinkle merrily, 

 and a hard frost sets in. Next morning a hard 

 blue sky is overhead, the wind is keen and bitter, 

 it still freezes hard. Notice the robin now as you 

 pass along. His cheery song is over, and he weeps 

 and mourns so that it is positively disheartening to 

 listen to him. One of the things I cannot bear is to 

 hear the robin cry. 



Fieldfares, redwings, and lapwings flit restlessly 

 about, at a loss what to do. Had the snow remained 

 on the fields with the root-crops left for sheep-feed, 

 it would have been all right, for the birds would 

 have found good shelter under the broad leaves as 

 well as food. But now the ground is hard, and 

 their food is under it. So they move to and fro, 

 loath to quit what had been their happy hunting- 

 grounds, until some of them, the thrush portion, 



