132 WITH THE WOODLANDERS: 



have been following the plough for a week. Hoodie- 

 crows I have had nothing to do with, I leave crows 

 on their merits ; but gulls I can say something 

 about, for I dined off one recently, and can affirm 

 that the flesh was as sweet and pure as the plumage 

 of the bird itself. 



Wild rabbits will leave their warren sanctuary, 

 if they can find outlets to do so, to go to the 

 ploughed fields to make their stops the homes 

 for rearing their young in. They do this frequently, 

 close to where man is carrying on some of his 

 numerous occupations. One stop I looked at was 

 close to a saw - mill in the woods which had 

 been temporarily set up for cutting the timber on 

 the spot. These shallow burrows, lined with the 

 doe's soft flick, are in some spots very numerous, 

 and generally the doe rears the young all right ; 

 but how she enters the burrow to suckle them, 

 or how she leaves it, is one of the sights a natural- 

 ist is favoured with but rarely not once in seven 

 years. 



The fox noses them at times, and scratches 

 them out. As to the badger, what could be more 

 delicate for his very accommodating appetite than 



