loo BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



when I talked and questioned, answered briefly 

 and somewhat surlily. I treated him to tobacco, 

 and he smoked ; but it wasn't shag, and didn't 

 soften him. On mentioning casually that I had 

 seen a stoat an hour before, he exhibited a sudden 

 interest. It was as if one had said " rats ! " to a 

 terrier. I succeeded after a while in getting him to 

 tell me the name of the man to whom he sent his 

 captives, and when I told him that I knew the man 

 well — z bird-seller in a low part of London — ^he 

 thawed visibly. Finally I asked him to look at a 

 red-backed shrike, perched on a bush about fifteen 

 yards from his nets, through my field glasses, and 

 from that moment he became as friendly as possible, 

 and conversed freely about his mystery. " How 

 near it brings him ! " he exclaimed, with a grin of 

 delight, after looking at the bird. The shrike had 

 greatly annoyed him; it had been hanging about 

 for some time, he told me, dashing at the linnets 

 and driving them off when they flew down to the 

 nets. Two or three times he might have caught it, 

 but would not draw the nets and have the trouble 

 of resetting them for so worthless a bird. " But 

 I'll take him the next time," he said vindictively. 

 " I didn't know he was such a handsome bird." 

 Unfortunately the shrike soon flew away, and passing 

 linnets dropped down, drawn to the spot by the 

 twitterings of their caged fellows, and were caught ; 



