JULY 147 



is a pretty object for the spyglass, with his ruddy back 

 and rosy grey breast, posing as the model breadwinner 

 of a blameless family. There is something ominous 

 though in his mien ; although no larger than a night- 

 ingale, he is very powerfully built, with solid shoulders, 

 sitting low and mute on his perch. There is, too, a 

 suggestion of the executioner in the singular black 

 mask drawn across his eyes and forehead to the ear 

 coverts. This is the second season that a pair of these 

 shrikes have reared their young in this brake, and last 

 year careful and repeated search failed to disclose 

 their larder. This year, however, perseverance has 

 been rewarded by its discovery in the recesses of a 

 blackthorn thicket on the edge of the pit. The piece 

 de resistance in the store was the mangled carcase of 

 a field-vole or long-tailed mouse (it was too much 

 decomposed to tell which) wound tightly among the 

 thorns. 



LVII 



Of all the dogs which have suffered from our malice 

 in giving them bad names, none has been more unfairly 

 treated than the water-rat. He owes a Rats Mice 

 grudge to Nature, too, for bestowing on him and Voles 

 the garb and mien of the criminal classes. In spite of 

 that, there is no more blameless existence than that of 

 this pretty rodent. You can see all he does, for his 

 habits are diurnal, instead of nocturnal, like those of 

 rats and mice. Watch him as he swims from point 

 to point of the bank ; if you stand still, he will land 



