BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 71 



seemed to show that the wryneck had been scarce 

 at this place for a very long period. 



The villager, as a rule, is not a good observer, 

 which is not strange, since no person is, or ever 

 can be, a good observer of the things in which 

 he is not specially interested; consequently the 

 countryman only knows the most common and the 

 most conspicuous species. He plods through life 

 with downcast eyes and a vision somewhat 

 dimmed by indifference; forgetting, as he pro- 

 gresses, the small scraps of knowledge he ac- 

 quired by looking sharply during the period of 

 boyhood, when every living creature excited his 

 attention. In Italy, notwithstanding the paucity 

 of bird life, I believe that the peasants know their 

 birds better. The reason of this is not far to 

 seek; every bird, not excepting even the "temple- 

 haunting mardet" and nightingale and minute 

 golden-crested wren, is regarded only as a pos- 

 sible morsel to give a savour to a dish of polenta, 

 if the shy, little flitting thing can only be enticed 

 within touching distance of the limed twigs. 

 Thus they take a very strong interest in, and, in 

 a sense, "love" birds. It is their passion for this 

 kind of flavouring which has drained rural Italy 



