352- RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



yew on which he is warbHng. The Rooks, having kept 

 up a Babel of sounds, retire to the stately firs, and all for 

 a time is silent. Now a Magpie, disturbing the almost 

 solemn stillness with his harsh chattering notes, warily 

 enters the looming crown of yonder pine ; and in the 

 distance we hear the Jays, noisy as is their wont at 

 nightfall, settling down to rest in some favourite and 

 lofty holly. Silence finally reigns supreme, only broken 

 by the murmuring of the west wind as it kisses the 

 evergreens with its gentle breath, and sighs mournfully 

 and low round the naked branches in its passage up this 

 calm and peaceful valley. 



Thus, gentle reader, thou hast seen that some birds 

 retire to the holly, others to the yew or laurel, while others 

 nightly seek the dark foliage-capped fir, while yet again 

 many repair to the ever trailing ivy for their purpose — 

 hast seen that, provided sufficient accommodation be 

 found for them, all the birds of the locality will repair to 

 the shrubberies of evergreens, to nestle amongst their 

 perennial branches. I may also inform thee, that shouldst 

 thou have a taste for ornithology, as I trust thou hast, 

 that shouldst thou make frequent practice of roaming 

 through plantations of this description, thou wilt be 

 enabled to greatly increase thy knowledge of the 

 feathered tribes, enticed thither by the seclusion, pro- 

 tection, and concealment thy perennial thickets afford ; 

 for in their arboreal depths is the chosen place for ani- 

 mated nature. Even when the summer sun is smiling 

 around us, thou hast seen that evergreens still play an 

 important part in the economy of the feathered race, for 

 many a sylvan songster warbles incessantly from their 

 glossy spiays, while in safety sits his mate upon her 

 home, embosomed amidst their foliage. 



In conclusion, gentle reader, I trust I have shown 



