86 MOOR BLACKBIRD XETS. 



having partly a south and partly an east or west 

 exposure exclusively with your cherries; and to 

 plant them, both dwarfs and riders, so as to fill the 

 wall at the soonest. For no sooner will fruit appear 

 than it will be carried off by birds, unless protected 

 by a net. By having a double aspect, you prolong 

 the fruit season ; and by having the trees of that 

 species brought together, one net will serve for all 

 that you require. A most pestilent fellow, a moor 

 blackbird, without any coral on his bill, sooty, tune- 

 less, and ill shaped, has of late years, like the old 

 invaders of Italy, found the fruit of our gardens 

 better than that of his native wilds; and, having 

 once tasted the cherry, he cannot forget the flavour 

 of it. He comes a host exactly at the season of 

 ripe fruit, and never fails, with an angry chatter, 

 when he is disturbed, to intimate that you are as 

 annoying to him as he is to you. He is sure to 

 have the advantage of you in early rising, which 

 both quickens his appetite and affords him leisure 

 for his morning meal. He is besides less shy as 

 to the quality of his food; for, whilst you are 

 judging that your fruit has not quite attained the 

 mellowness that is wholesome for your stomach, 

 he is busy eating; and that he has no complaint 

 of acidity, he proves, by a readiness to fall upon 

 your plums when he has done with your cherries. 

 Thus, differing from you only a little as to the 

 nice point of perfect ripeness, he makes the round 

 of your several crops, and is about to conclude his 

 harvest of each sort just when you had thoughts 



