XXXV BIRDS OF THE GARDEN 313 



The common wren, on the contrary, immediately forsakes her 

 nest if it is at all handled and examined before she has laid 

 her eggs. She will abandon it if she merely observes people 

 looking too closely at it ; but when she has commenced to sit 

 I have known her to be caught on her nest, and replaced, and 

 still not forsake it. A small blue-headed tomtit formed her 

 nest this year in a chink in my garden wall, and allowed the 

 children to take out an egg to examine it from underneath her, 

 without leaving the nest. In fact, instead of being frightened 

 at the intrusion of their hands into her little warm, well-feathered 

 domicile, she pecked courageously at their fingers, hissing and 

 spluttering at them, and never seeming inclined to fly off. 

 When the young ones were hatched, the activity and perseve- 

 rance of the old birds in providing them with caterpillars and 

 blue-bottle flies were perfectly wonderful. They appeared to 

 fly backwards and forwards to their young family every minute 

 of the day, always bringing some insect in their bills. The 

 good done by these little birds in destroying grubs and flies 

 ought to earn them an immunity from all danger from trap or 

 gun. Gardeners are always too much inclined to wage war 

 against all small birds, forgetting that they invariably feed their 

 young, not with seeds, but with different kinds of grubs and 

 caterpillars, in this way amply repaying any little mischief 

 they may do to the early-sown seeds. For my own part, I 

 never trust a gun in my gardener's hands, but let the blackbirds 

 and thrushes take as many cherries as they like, in return for 

 which they destroy thousands of grey snails, etc., besides giving 

 me many a moment of pleasure by their song. I admit that I 

 do occasionally shoot the crows and jackdaws when they destroy 

 too many of the cherries, particularly as these active marauders 

 come from some distance in large flocks as soon as the fruit 

 becomes red on the trees. I invariably observe that at this 

 season one or two jackdaws arrive first, flying round and round 

 at a great height above the garden. After some chattering 

 between themselves, they fly away, returning some hours after- 

 wards with the rest of their family, four or five in number ; and 

 if not checked by a few charges of shot, these first intruders 

 soon invite every jackdaw in the country to the feast, their 

 numbers increasing every day, till I am obliged to take active 

 steps against them. 



