WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 35 



and the bleak foreshores, so I was able to tell them 

 about the wild creatures, and other matters, that 

 dwellers inland rarely see. I have been hunting 

 about in these districts for years, and yet have not 

 ,seen one quarter of what I still hope to see. Some 

 fresh thing comes to the front, in one way or 

 another, almost daily. 



The vegetable growth and the insect life that 

 gathers about old trees are a vital necessity to 

 many creatures. I have known owls, jackdaws, 

 woodpeckers, starlings, squirrels, and great bats 

 and these latter not of the smaller species all 

 have their homes in one large decaying tree. And 

 "Jackup" is to be found established in the branches 

 above, and a large family of hedgehogs will be 

 settled below him. The creatures all leave their 

 peculiar traces, which are easily distinguished if 

 you are at all versed in wood-lore. 



Those castings at the foot of the tree, for instance, 

 dropped accidentally by the bird, are quite enough 

 to tell you that the owl is there; and jackdaws, 

 squirrels, and starlings announce the fact of their 

 presence in the same unmistakable fashion. One 

 or two round holes, the openings to the old or 



