WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 39 



young birds' feathers would bluff out, and a concert 

 of quavering cries would be heard from the whole 

 family. Then this brings the old birds crashing 

 down through the leaves from the top boughs to 

 see what is the matter, which does not put the yaffle 

 out in the least degree. He simply dodges round 

 the limbs, now here and now there, finally setting 

 up a defiant yike ! as he dashes down to some 

 emmet -heaps near to his own little nook in the 

 wreck, which was once a grand tree. 



Sometimes the squirrels and the starlings would 

 fall out, and then there would be a rare to-do ! for 

 the squirrels would stamp, chatter, and whisk about, 

 whilst the starlings could hardly give vent to their 

 indignation in sufficiently quick terms. They dived 

 in and out of the holes where their nests were, 

 puffed out the feathers of their throats until the 

 hackle feathers stood out, and chattered their 

 loudest, now and again mournfully whistling by 

 way of a change. 



Probably there was a good reason for all this 

 disturbance ; for the squirrel will now and again 

 indulge his carnivorous propensities just like some 

 other creatures who are supposed to be vegetarians. 



