CHAPTER VIII 



Denizens of a Beech Grove 



THE part of the country in which I chance to reside abounds in extremely 

 fine beech trees ; so fine indeed that the district has achieved fame 

 on their account. 



There is an unusual charm about a group of tall beeches, with their smooth 

 green trunks, symmetrical shapes, and spreading fohage ; a charm that is en- 

 hanced by the many interesting creatures which seek, in the breeding season, 

 the seclusion of their shade. 



It is generally in the month of May and June that the beech groves prove 

 most attractive, for then the majority of the creatures which they harbour 

 are hard at work rearing the new generation ; and one is pretty sure of finding, 

 or seeing, something of peculiar interest. 



In this particular locality there are certain birds which seem to have 

 such a leaning towards beech trees, that they seldom make their homes any- 

 where elsC' — although this peculiarity may be accounted for by the fact that 

 there are such quantities of beeches ; and that so many of them, by being more 

 or less decayed, offer unusually comfortable nesting-sites. 



A beech tree, unhappily for the aspiring ornithologist, is usually extremely 

 difiicult, and frequently impossible, to negotiate ; for one cannot hope to 

 climb up the bole of a tree which measures some 12 feet in circmnference, and 

 is quite devoid of branches for 50 feet or so ! And the spiked affairs which 

 are used by men for ascending telegraph poles are out of the question, as the 

 bark is too soft to hold the spike, and the actual wood too hard to be penetrated. 

 However, there are at least some amongst these inaccessible-looking trees 

 which can be overcome, and on these we must concentrate. 



The Tawny Owl and the Stock Dove — both of which love to nest in the 

 hollow of a beech — ^are amongst the birds which begin their nest-building 

 before winter has really left us ; although nest building is really a too dignified 

 term to use in the case of either of them ; for the first generally lays its eggs 

 on the dead wood at the bottom of the hollow, and the second, being a not 

 much more gifted architect, collects only a few twigs and grass stems to serve 

 as a nest. 



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