Egg-time. 65 



and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation ; 

 but the first is rare, the second almost exterminated 

 in many districts ; the third the poor hedgehog is 

 common, and some keepers have a bitter dislike to 

 them. Swine are credited with the same mischief as 

 the worst of vermin at this particular season ; but 

 nowadays swine are not allowed to run wild in 

 cultivated districts, except in the autumn when the 

 acorns are falling. 



As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly 

 accessible, and the eggs, being large, are tempting. 

 Perhaps the mowing machine is as destructive as 

 anything ; and after all these there is the risk of a 

 wet season and of disease. Let the care exercised be 

 never so great, a certain amount of mortality must 

 occur. 



While the young partridges gradually become 

 strong and swift, the nuts are increasing in size, and 

 ripening upon the bough. The very word hazel has a 

 pleasant sound not a nut-tree hedge existed in the 

 neighbourhood that we did not know and visit. We 

 noted the progress of the bushes from the earliest 

 spring, and the catkins to the perfect nut. 



There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the 

 hazel in February, though the gloom of winter lingers 

 and the ' Shuck a sheck ! ' of the fieldfare fleeing 



F 



