324 MY COUNTRY WANDERINGS 



need, are not the same individuals which have 

 been resident amongst us during the Summer, but 

 largely foreign immigrants from the Continent or 

 elsewhere ! 



Most birds carry out migratory movements; 

 many Song Thrushes quit our shores at the end of 

 Summer, to mention only one species, and that 

 favourite Mavis which poured out such liquid 

 notes in the neighbourhood of your garden may, 

 in November, be many, many leagues away in 

 some distant land! 



We must not, however, devote the whole of our 

 attention to the birds, and, in our desire to pay 

 them that tribute which is their due, overlook 

 some of the other forms of wild life on a November 

 day. A rustle in the fallen leaves tells that a 

 Mouse or Rabbit is moving, and across the path 

 in front of us a Weasel or Stoat — and, shall we 

 add, a Fox — skips along, not five minutes after we 

 had bade adieu to the gamekeeper and his gun! 

 All three animals must be reckoned amongst his 

 most dreaded enemies, making sad havoc at times 

 with his precious Game, and although he may, and 

 does, keep down the Weasel and Stoat, the Fox 

 he dare not tamper with, or he might, and prob- 

 ably would, be " drummed out " of the county in 

 which such a daring deed had been perpetrated! 



Although it is grey November, and the clouds 

 above us are dull and leaden-like, a courageous 



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