104 The Delights of Hedgerows. 



some of the most attractive and at the same time most 

 beautiful and fascinating aspects of animal life. I do 

 not here refer to the birds, though the hedge-sparrow, 

 and the hedge- war bier, and the yellowhammer, and the 

 larger tits are habitues — not to speak of thrushes and 

 blackbirds, and the starlings and jays, who go flashing 

 over and over with a purply gleam wholly indescribable 

 on their black back and wings. But in the hedgerow 

 the hedgehog has his haunt, the delightful little shrews 

 find quarters there, and also the field voles in the bot- 

 toms of the dry ditches at their sides. They burrow, 

 and love the proximity of bush roots, though they will 

 also make their nest in the field. 



Then the birds' nests, hidden in the most artistic 

 manner sometimes, or so protected by similarity of 

 colour to the surrounding foliage or bark. The wren 

 is one of the most delightful builders. Any one might 

 find in its nest a subject of study and admiration for 

 weeks. 



And there is still another harvest of the hedgerows, 

 which we should not forget. What would become of 

 our resident birds — our sweet native songsters — 



" That in the merry months of spring 

 Delighted us to hear them sing," 



were it not for the berries of the hedgerow, which too 

 glimmer bright through the frost and snow? And what 

 a pretty sight it is to see, as just said, the blackbird or 

 thrush, or even the little robin, by flutterings and pres- 

 sures of the breast, clear away the snow from the now 

 dark and trailing branches, and reveal the clusters of 

 red berries to match the breast of the latter. Yes, the 

 hollies and privets and hawthorns, and the brambles, 

 yews, and their brethren then hang out their banners 



