EXOTIC BIRDS FOR BRITAIN 143 



are quartered by the small creeper, that leaves no 

 crevice unexplored in his search for minute insects 

 and their eggs* He is assisted by the nuthatch ; 

 and in summer the wryneck comes (if he still lives), 

 and deftly picks up the little active ants that are 

 always wildly careering over the boles* The foliage 

 is gleaned by warblers and others ; and not even the 

 highest terminal twigs are left unexamined by tits 

 and their fellow-seekers after little things* Thrushes 

 seek for worms in moist grounds about the woods ; 

 starlings and rooks go to the pasture lands ; the lark 

 and his relations keep to the cultivated fields ; and 

 there also dwells the larger partridge* Waste and 

 stony grounds are occupied by the chats, and even 

 on the barren mountain summits the ptarmigan gets 

 his living. Wagtails run on the clean margins of 

 streams; and littoral birds of many kinds are in 

 possession of the entire sea-coast* Thus, the whole 

 ground appears to be already sufficiently occupied, 

 the habitats of distinct species overlapping each 

 other like the scales on a fish* And when we have 

 enumerated all these, we find that scores of others 

 have been left out. The important fly-catcher ; 

 the wren, Nature *s diligent little housekeeper, that 

 leaves no dusty corner uncleaned ; and the pigeons, 

 that have a purely vegetable diet. The woods and 

 thickets are : also ranged by jays, cuckoos, owls, 

 hawks, magpies, butcher-birds Nature's game- 



