164 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



more freely than it yields bread to man. Seagulls 

 come from the coast. Peewits make the field their 



home in the spring. There are congregations 

 Life of O f sparrows and finches. Hosts of starlings 

 Cornfield tnat to roost m the reeds. Wood-pigeons 



stuff their crops to bursting; turtle-doves 

 come and go. Yellow-hammers sing in the hedges 

 through the midsummer days. The corn-crake runs 

 swiftly through the stems where the partridge has her 

 young brood. Rooks follow the plough, with wag- 

 tails that run and dart over the furrows as if gliding 

 on ice. Overhead are larks ; and the corn-bunting 

 flies heavily from field to field, his legs trailing as if 

 broken. And birds of prey take their toll of the 

 feeding multitudes. All through the year animal life 

 finds sanctuary in the cornfield. Underground are 

 the moles ; the harvest mouse weaves its nest in the 

 corn-stems ; the rabbit makes a stop in the field near 

 the hedge, and eats the green blades. To the ripening 

 corn the fox brings her cubs to play. In the ditches are 

 hedgehogs ; everywhere are rats, mice, and shrew- 

 mice. The hare follows secret paths, and there are 

 stoats and weasels seeking prey, and finding it on 

 every side. But nowadays there is little or no work 

 for our mills, as wheat-field after wheat-field is 

 turned into grass. The miller is only one among 

 ten thousand sufferers. 



The days spent in the cornfield must pass pleasantly 

 for the little foxes in a fine summer. In cornfields, 

 unlike hayfields, there is room between the stems for 



