30 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



were now a mass of icicles. Twink-twink-twink- 

 twink, then came the harsh notes of the bramblings. 

 A 'fine sight was this, for the lover of birds to see 

 them busily at work in such numbers ; sorry indeed 

 should I have been to have missed it ; for although 

 these birds have always frequented these woods from 

 time to time, they have never been seen in such 

 numbers as this. 



You are not able to go just where you like in the 

 woodlands, even if it is wild land. Those who come 

 into the country for a few weeks or months, as the 

 case may be, to write on rural matters, go away 

 little wiser than they came. If there is one thing 

 these people dislike more than another, it is being 

 questioned ; and if the course is persisted in, strangers 

 get told a good deal, but little that is useful. To one 

 rash individual who tried to interview me I gave 

 valuable information, which if published would outdo 

 Baron Munchausen. Brain-suckers are in force just 

 now, and our villages and rural population get too 

 much written about. 



Owlets, as the large moths are called, find scant 

 favour with the woodlanders : they rob the bee- 

 hives, they say. I have known some of the 



