A ROADSIDE NATURALIST. 25 



in hard weather I have seen siskins and redpolls 

 busily at work on thistles, for they were the only 

 plants that rose above the surface of the snow. 



Blackbirds, thrushes, hedge-sparrows, willow-wrens, 

 white-throats, and nightingales all nest and get their 

 living by the roadsides. I have often listened to 

 the nightingale singing not ten feet above my head, 

 and have found his nest in the bank — and left it 

 there — only a yard or two from the main road. 



Before we leave hedgerow life, mention should be 

 made of the entomologists who find in and about the. 

 hedges happy hunting-grounds, both by day and 

 night. Butterflies, moths, and beetles abound, and 

 even the last-named creatures have their ardent and 

 devoted followers. The hawk -moths — or sphinx 

 family — delight in such localities : before some of 

 our ancient hedges were grubbed up, in my younger 

 ,days, I have made some good captures of various 

 members of that family. The death's-head moth and 

 the caterpillar of the moth used to be frequently found 

 in the potato-fields at that time, to the disgust of the 

 rustics who worked in the fields. They attributed 

 to the caterpillar certain harmful and supernatural 

 qualities that showed a wonderful imagination on 



