BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 67 



I then imparted to him the views on this bird 

 subject of a well-known fruit-grower in the north 

 of England, Mr* Joseph Witherspoon, of Chester- 

 le-Street. He began by persecuting the birds, as 

 he had been taught to do by his father, a market- 

 gardener ; but after years of careful observation 

 he completely changed his views, and is now so 

 convinced of the advantage that birds are to the 

 fruit-grower, that he does all in his power to attract 

 them and to tempt them to breed in his grounds* 

 His main idea is that birds that are fed on the 

 premises, that live and feed among the trees, search 

 for and attack the gardeners enemies at every 

 stage of their existence* At the same time he believes 

 that it is very bad to grow fruit near woods, as in 

 such a case the birds that live in the woods and are 

 of no advantage to the garden swarm into it as the 

 fruit ripens, and that it is only by a liberal use of 

 nets that any reasonable portion of the fruit can be 

 saved. 



He answered that with regard to the last point he 

 did not quite agree with Mr. Witherspoon. All the 

 gardens and orchards in the village were raided by 

 the birds from the wood, yet he reckoned they got 

 as much fruit from their trees as others who had no 

 woods near them. Then there was the big cherry 

 plantation, one of the biggest in England, so that 

 people came from all parts in the blossoming time 



