lo BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



browsed there, roaming about in twos and threes 

 and half-dozens, tearing their fleeces for the benefit 

 of nest-building birds in the great tangled masses 

 of mingled furze and bramble and briar. Birds 

 were abundant there — all those kinds that love the 

 common's openness and the rough thorny vege- 

 tation that flourishes on it. But the village, or rather 

 the large open space occupied by it, formed the 

 headquarters and centre of a paradise of birds, as I 

 soon began to think it ; for the cottages and houses 

 were widely separated, the meanest having a garden 

 and some trees, and in most cases there was an old 

 orchard of apple, cherry, and walnut trees to each 

 habitation ; and out of this mass of greenery, which 

 hid the houses and made the place look more like 

 a wood than a village, towered the great elms in 

 rows and in groups. 



On first approaching the place I heard, mingled 

 with many other voices, that of the nightingale ; 

 and as it was for the medicine of its pure, fresh 

 melody that I particularly craved, I was glad to 

 find a lodging in one of the cottages, and to remain 

 there for several weeks. 



The small care which the nightingale took to live 

 up to his reputation in this place surprised me a 

 little. Here he could always be heard in the daytime 

 — ^not one bird, but a dozen — ^in different parts of 

 the village ; but he sang not at night. This I set 



