130 WILD LIFE IN THE TREE TOPS 



nested ; and only such birds as the partridge and the lark — fortunate under 

 such conditions in being supplied with ample cover in the shape of bushes and 

 grasses — continue to frequent the land as they did in happier days. 



Those are strange days to think of now — ^but days with, after aU, certain 

 redeeming features, and days that I, for one, shall not easily forget. 



In my capacity as ' sniper ' I perhaps had unusual opportunities of noting 

 and observing the various birds with which the firing-line abounded, and on 

 one occasion at least, the chance of inspecting at close quarters a nest which I 

 had never seen before. 



We had started out for the day — May 31, 1915 — just before dawn, and as 

 usual had stopped at a little pond just behind our firing-line, where we invari- 

 ably had the only wash of the day, before proceeding on om- journey. 



Even the pond and its vicinity was full of life — a hare started from under 

 our feet as we approached it, and a little further on a brace of partridges rose 

 with a whirr of wings. 



It was a wonderfully quiet morning ; and the pond looked extraordinarily 

 beautiful in the first light of dawn. On one side of it was a grand old hawthorn 

 bush, whose drooping branches gently touched the water ; whilst in the centre 

 was a tiny grass-covered island supporting an old wiUow-tree, at whose foot was 

 a moorhen's nest containing egg-shells that suggested tiny moorhens recently 

 hatched. This little family seemed to be doing well, for we saw them later on, 

 paddling along in the wake of their mother, who proudly, and with flirting 

 tail, led the way. Sometimes too, they might be seen pecking about amongst 

 the rushes at the further side of the pond, or clambering out of the water to 

 rest awhile on the little island. 



In the hawthorn bush a pigeon was sitting on a couple of eggs ; she had 

 quite frightened us a few days before by suddenly dashing out of the bush in 

 that noisy, clattering way that wood-pigeons have ! 



As it grew lighter we crept forward behind a hedge that was the only 

 available cover, and drew nearer to our destination, which, in fact, was the 

 remains of what had once been a dairy farm. Dead cows, calves, and an 

 occasional pig were lying about everywhere. The farm-house, the dairy, and 

 most of the outbuildings were burnt to the gromid ; the only building still 

 standing being a cow-shed known as ' Sniper's Barn.' 



To reach this cow-shed was our object, and to accomplish it we crawled 

 carefully along the foot of the hedge for some distance, in order to go unseen 

 over a shght ridge before getting on to our feet, and advancing in a crouching 

 position towards the mass of bricks, once forming an outhouse to the farm, 

 which loomed indistinctly before us in the grey light. 



At this point it was necessary to pass carefully between the ruins and the 

 hedge on the left ; then on over a decomposing cow's body (being careful to 

 hold the breath at this point), until the shell-hole in the wall on the right was 



