BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 83 



purpose well or not, struck me as being very un- 

 worthy of the times we lived in, and seemed to 

 show that the British fruit-growers, who were 

 ahead of the world in all other matters connected 

 with their vocation, had quite neglected this one 

 point. A thousand years ago cultivators of the 

 soil were scaring the birds from their crops just 

 as we are doing, with methods no better and no 

 worse, putting up scarecrows and old ragged 

 garments and fluttering rags, hanging a dead 

 crow to a stick to warn the others off, shouting 

 and yelling and throwing stones. There appeared 

 to be an opening here for experiment and inven- 

 tion. Mere noise was not terrifying to birds, and 

 they soon discovered that an old hat on a stick 

 had no injurious brains in or under it. But cer- 

 tain sounds and colours and odours had a strong 

 effect on some animals. Sounds made to stimulate 

 the screams of some hawks would perhaps prove 

 very terrifying to thrushes and other small birds, 

 and the effect of scarlet in large masses or long 

 strips might be tried. It would also be worth 

 while to try the effect of artificial sparrow-hawks 

 and other birds of prey, perched conspicuously, 

 moving and perking their tails at intervals by 



