THE WOODPECKER'S BROOD 411 



" universal hiss " which came from the fallen angels, 

 when they found themselves suddenly transformed 

 into serpents, 



" Who hiss for hiss returned, with forked tongue 

 To forked tongue." 



And most interesting of all it was to see the 

 young birds when they were fully fledged, but had 

 not yet found their wings, clinging on to the bole 

 around the nest or climbing up it, till, at the first 

 alarm, they slunk back into it, as into a safe 

 harbour of refuge. The hole is now occupied by a 

 colony of bats ; and I fear that no nut-hatch or tit- 

 mouse no, not even a starling will ever deign to 

 enter it hereafter. 



I have dwelt at length on some of the birds 

 which are most characteristic of Bingham's 

 Melcombe ; at others I can only glance. The 

 moor-hen is a constant inhabitant of the fishponds 

 and the brook. The wild duck often builds her 

 nest on one of the islands in the ponds, and gives 

 to her adventurous brood their first lesson in 

 navigation there. Vast flocks of wood-pigeons, 

 from the beech-woods of Milton Abbey, visit the 

 fields and coombs in winter, while, in summer, the 

 woods are resonant with their love-lorn plaints and 



