122 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



South Down sheep is so delicious is because the 

 sheep, in closely cropping the fine velvet-like turf, 

 eat enormous quantities of these tiny creatures. 

 These come and go as atmospheric changes take 

 place, although they never go far, certainly : on 

 warm moist mornings and evenings you would 

 crush hundreds at every step that you might take 

 on the turf. Worms come out in thousands at 

 such times; then the plovers are busy. At one 

 time all the poor earth-worm was thought fit for 

 was to go fishing with. Now he is known to be 

 one of earth's workers for man's benefit ; and not 

 only that, but he affords first-rate food for a great 

 number of birds, and for some animals. 



In hard weather I have found many of the larger 

 birds dead and dying, but never yet a golden- 

 crested wren. Active as ever, he is to be seen 

 inspecting the branches and stems of the firs 

 snow-covered where he built his nest in the sum- 

 mer. This little creature, not so large as many of 

 the humming-birds, braves our severest winters 

 at least in the south of England. Some one may 

 have picked up dead specimens of the wee creature, 

 but I have not done so, although I have been out 



