LIFE IN THE NEW FOREST 



893 



and take really about this friendshi]), ior 

 when the cow grew weary in the noon- 

 tide heat, and settled herself down for a 

 quiet siesta, the hen would then mount 

 guard and employ herself in picking off 

 the flies that settled on the nose and 

 round the eyes of the cow. 



The naturalist in his rambles through 

 the Forest will probably come, sooner or 



observation of the wild creatures of the 

 Forest. 



Unfortunately, there are within the 

 boundaries of the Forest a number of 

 would-be gipsies who have no right to 

 that name ; they are mostly lazy, drunken, 

 unclean tramps, too lazy to earn an honest 

 living, content to shift from pillar to post, 

 picking up a precarious living by what 



FELLING A YOUNG OAK IN A FOREST. 



later, upon a gipsy encampment. There 

 are still wandering in the Forest district 

 two or three famihes of true gipsies, who 

 speak the old Romany language, and who 

 are true children of Nature, loving their 

 outdoor life ; and having a keen know- 

 ledge of the birds and beasts around them, 

 the naturalist photographer will often find 

 the gipsies a considerable aid to him in 

 his work. 



Gipsies are suspicious of strangers, fear- 

 ing ahke the possibility of a police spy or 

 someone connected with the educational 

 authorities, and therefore it takes a httle 

 time to become on friendly terms with 

 them ; but once the friendship is made, 

 they are only too willing to help anyone 

 who is really interested in nature, in the 



they may beg or steal ; and, unfortunately, 

 it is from the depredations of these people 

 that the true gipsy has gained a bad 

 name. 



.'Vmongst the gipsies one finds a certain 

 amount of folk lore and legend relating 

 to the Forest. They are a more romantic 

 people than the Saxon inhabitants, and 

 many a strange and weird story is 

 recounted round the encampment fire at 

 night. 



To till' lover of wild nature I know of 

 no more delightful place to spend a holiilay 

 than the New Forest. In s]Mte of the 

 depredations of the professional collector, 

 it still offers a unicpie ground for the 

 observation of many of the rarer species 

 of insects, birds, animals and plants. 



