34 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



so admirably does it fit into and harmonise with 

 the landscape* At one point there was a deep, 

 nearly stagnant pool, separated from the stream by 

 a strip of wet rushy ground, its still dark surface 

 covered with water-lilies, not yet in bloom. They 

 were just beginning to show their polished buds, 

 shaped like snake's heads, above the broad oily 

 leaves floating like islands on the surface* The 

 stream itself was (on my side) fringed with bul- 

 rushes and other aquatic plants ; on the opposite 

 bank there were some large alders lifting their 

 branches above great masses of bramble and rose- 

 briar, all together forming as rich and beautiful a 

 tangle as one could find even in the most luxuriant 

 of the wild unkept hedges round the village* The 

 briars especially flourished wonderfully at this spot, 

 climbing high and dropping their long slim branches 

 quite down to the surface of the water, and in some 

 places forming an arch above the stream* A short 

 distance from this tangle, so abundantly sprinkled 

 with its pale delicate roses, the water was spanned 

 by a small wooden bridge, which no person appeared 

 to use, but which had a use* It formed the one dry 

 clear spot in the midst of all that moist vegetation, 

 and the birds that came from the wood to drink and 

 search for worms and small caterpillars first alighted 

 on the bridge* There they would rest a few moments, 

 take a look round, then fly to some favourite spot 



