126 IN BERKSHIRE FIELDS 



vided by their architectural structure, but rather 

 by their environment, and with each environment 

 I love to associate the feathered inhabitants. 

 Rather a rough classification, perhaps, but to the 

 beginning birdnester it is the most useful one, in 

 many ways, as well as the one yielding the largest 

 reward of general enjoyment. 



First, of course, we must begin with our dwell- 

 ings as an environment, including the barns and 

 outbuildings. There are certain birds prone to nest 

 in, on, or about them, friendly birds who can become 

 our companions and often (like the swallows) our 

 best friends. Then there are birds of the orchard, 

 which may include other trees about our dwellings. 

 These birds, too, are our familiars, and nowadays, 

 it is pleasant to record, more and more the objects of 

 our protection and care. Then there are birds of the 

 meadows, birds of the swamp, birds of the pasture 

 (the upland pastures, the cleared areas, the berry- 

 patches), and birds of the deep woods. There are, 

 too, birds of the river-banks — the kingfisher, for 

 instance. Can any one think of the kingfisher apart 

 from his stream? Finally, there are certain birds 

 the tramper, at any rate, associates peculiarly with 

 the roadside — the country roadside with its old 

 stone walls, its rail fences, its brier tangles and tree 

 hedges. Perhaps the last classification is an arbi- 

 trary one, but let it stand. The old-fashioned 

 roadside garden, before the dust of motors and the 

 invasion of tarvia and brush scythes, was a delect- 

 able world of color and odor and bird and butterfly 

 life. Its brilliant indigo birds, its gay goldfinches, 

 its melodious song-sparrows, its protesting cat-birds, 



