BRITISH FERTILITY. 209 



nity from the many dangers that beset the nests of 

 our birds, dangers from squirrels, snakes, crows, 

 owls, weasels, etc., and from violent storms and tem- 

 pests, and one can quickly see why the British 

 birds so thrive and abound. There is a chaffinch for 

 every tree, and a crow and a starling for every 

 square rod of ground. I think there would be still 

 more starlings if they could find places to build ; but 

 every available spot is occupied; every hole in a 

 wall, or tower, or tree, or stump ; every niche about 

 the farm buildings ; every throat of the grinning 

 gargoyles about the old churches and cathedrals ; 

 every cranny in towers and steeples and castle para- 

 pet, and the mouth of every rain-spout and gutter in 

 which they can find a lodgment. 



The ruins of the old castles afford a harbor to 

 many species, the most noticeable of which are spar- 

 rows, starlings, doves, and swallows. Rochester Cas- 

 tle, the main tower or citadel of which is yet in a 

 good state of preservation, is one vast dove-cot. The 

 woman in charge told me there were then about six 

 hundred doves there. They whitened the air as they 

 flew and circled about. From time to time they are 

 killed off and sent to market. At sundown, after the 

 doves had gone to roost, the swifts appeared, seeking 

 out their crannies. For a few moments the air was 

 dark with them. 



Look also at the crows, or rooks as they are usu- 

 ally called. They follow the plowmen like chickens, 

 picking up the grubs and worms ; and chickens they 

 14 



