172 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



in which the hole was. But the bird had so cleverly 

 imitated the colour and texture of beech - bark, 

 leaving a round hole just large enough for her to 

 enter, that you might have passed by it every day 

 and not have noticed it, unless you had seen the 

 old bird go in or out. You could see her eggs 

 through the hole, and the young after they were 

 hatched, for they were not molested. Wary as the 

 bird is, she, like others, preferred to nest close to a 

 frequented road. 



For some reason or other which it is impossible 

 to conjecture, some animals, and many of the wildest 

 and most suspicious birds, will persist, in spite of all 

 efforts to deter them, in making their homes as close 

 to humans as is possible. 



A vixen has had her cubs this year close to a 

 noble mansion, and to a well-frequented bridle-path. 

 I have passed it every night and morning all the 

 time she has been there. 



Those who had the right to do so dug her out 

 of her earth, but the cubs were not large enough 

 to shift for themselves, so they turned the lot down 

 again. That very night she shifted them all a mile 

 and a half away to some large rabbit - burrows. 



