172 MY GARDEN 



he was far away. Then they flew back, talked together 

 about the dreadful characters there are in the world, 

 cooled down gradually, and so returned to their 

 young. No watch-dogs were ever more energetic 

 or more fierce. Jackdaws fled before them, and 

 when they came down to the lawn for food, even 

 blackbirds, who hesitate not to send the ordinary 

 thrush about his business, raised no sort of argument 

 with them. They reared a brood of two, and the 

 party quickly disappeared. 



Our champion visitor, however, was a kingfisher. 

 What possessed this distinguished fowl to visit us 

 I never could understand. I suppose that he knew 

 the place for a " resort," and fancied a change from 

 the seclusion of Dart or Teign rivers. He came in 

 December and stayed a fortnight. The goldfish held 

 indignation meetings in deep water but he caught 

 a good many, and they suited him well. To study 

 his methods was exceedingly instructive. He sat on 

 arundo donex at first, but it was not quite convenient, 

 and so I arranged a stick for him hanging over the 

 pond. From this point he enjoyed excellent sport. 

 Suddenly, like a gem falling, he would drop with a 

 splash and then return ashore a young goldfish in 

 his beak. My daughter sided with the fish, while I 

 ranged myself beside the fisher. She hated death, as 

 the young will, with all her might, and told me that 

 it was a cruel and abominable thing that these fish, 

 in the security of their home, should thus be cut off 

 by a ferocious murderer. I explained that kingfishers 

 were much rarer and lovelier and more interesting 



