JANUARY. 17 



appeared at the end of the hedge a blackbird rose with 

 a chatter of alarm from the bank where he was feed- 

 ing, and flew straight down the dyke close to the 

 water, as blackbirds often do, not daring to settle 

 again till he was eighty yards away. His outcry and 

 flight disturbed a robin which was about fifty yards 

 down the dyke ; but instead of following the scared 

 blackbird's example, the friendly little fellow came 

 flying all the way up the dyke, and settled within a 

 few yards of me, where he bobbed his head and 

 flicked his tail, and waited to see whether my subse- 

 quent proceedings were likely to benefit him. There 

 can be no doubt, I think, that this instinctive attrac- 

 tion of the robin towards our company, wherever we 

 may meet, is based upon some very ancient and 

 intimate connection between us. I believe that be- 

 fore man learned to barricade his dwelling with 

 glazed windows and locked doors, the robin lived 

 inside, and not outside, human houses. 



WEATHER AND LAMBS. 



January 30. In its abrupt alternations between 

 " abnormal mildness " and " semi-arctic conditions," 

 the passing winter's temperature had been almost 

 an exact replica of our experiences in the previous 

 year. So we might reasonably anticipate blizzards 

 in the lambing-time, rapidly approaching. The wail 

 of the new-born lamb, catching the ear through the 

 whistle of the snow-driving blasts on a Norfolk up- 

 land, sounds pitiful enough ; but, as a matter of fact, 

 and except as it concerns his personal convenience, 

 the shepherd rather welcomes the bitter wind. What 



c 



