362 AUTUMN AND WINTER 



tailed ducks were noted by another observer. The men 

 with guns slew without much mercy or compunction. Three 

 bitterns, a bird that at last has begun to nest again in Eng- 

 land, were slain, and many wild-fowl. In the Saturday's 

 market in an east coast town hung from every other stall 

 bunches of lapwings, mallard and duck, smews, starlings, 

 wigeon, and here and there a goose of one sort or another. 



With a continuance of the frost and winds the fowl went 

 farther afield, not finding a rest anywhere. Beast and bird 

 and fish longed for the springtime warmth. For the days 

 are hard when 



' the snow 



Looks cheerless on the fields below ; 

 And cheerlessly the leafless trees 

 Toss their dark branches in the breeze/ 



