BIOGRAPHY. 39 



four years of age, and remained absolute master for nearly 

 sixty years. 



It was a pity that he did not bestow as much pains on 

 his estate as on his birds. But he was no practical 

 agriculturist as his father had been. He coiild not do 

 anything which looked like oppressing his tenants, and 

 the consequence was, that they were habitually in heavy 

 arrears, and often threw up their farms without paying 

 rent, having impoverished the land and enriched them- 

 selves. 



He loved natural history in all its forms, but his chief 

 pursuit was the study of bird-life, and he modified the 

 grounds to the use of the birds, caring much more for their 

 comfort than his own. For this purpose the grounds were 

 admirably adapted by Nature, and he aided her by art. 

 There were a large moat and a succession of ponds for the 

 ' accommodation of aquatic birds. There were swampy 

 places where the birds could feed. There were ruined edihces 

 for such birds as chose them for a residence, and the whole 

 of the park was covered with stately trees. Moreover, the 

 house stood on a stone island in the moat, and, as may be 

 seen from the illustration on page 36, permitted the habits 

 of the water-birds to be closely watched. 



The first need was obviously to allow the birds to be un- 

 disturbed by boys and other intruders, and to prohibit the 

 firing of guns — the only sound which birds seem instinc- 

 tively to dread. But, as there was a public pathway run- 

 ning in front of the house, he had great difficulty in 

 obtaining permission to close it. This object, however, 

 was at last attained, and he then began his wall. It is of 

 a roughly circular form, the house being near the centre. 

 Nowhere is it less than eight feet high, and where it runs 

 along the canal, it is more than double that height, in order 

 to protect the birds from the guns of bargees. 



