144 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



keepers, with a licence to kill, which, after the manner 

 of gamekeepers, they exerdse somewhat indis- 

 criminately. Above the earth, the air is peopled by 

 swifts and swallows in the daytime, and by goat- 

 suckers at night. And, as if all these were not enough, 

 the finches are found scattered everywhere, from the 

 most secluded spot in nature to the noisy public 

 thoroughfare, and are eaters of most things, from 

 flinty seed to softest caterpillar. This being the state 

 of things, one might imagine that experience and 

 observation are scarcely needed to prove to us 

 that the exotic, strange to the conditions, and where 

 its finest instincts would perhaps be at fault, would 

 have no chance of surviving. Nevertheless, odd as 

 it may seem, the small stock of facts bearing on the 

 subject which we possess point to a contrary con- 

 clusion. It might have been assumed, for instance, 

 that the red-legged partridge would never have 

 established itself with us, where the ground was 

 already fully occupied by a native species, which 

 possessed the additional advantage of a more perfect 

 protective colouring. Yet, in spite of being thus 

 handicapped, the stranger has conquered a place, 

 and has spread throughout the greater part of 

 England. Even more remarkable is the case of the 

 pheasant, with its rich plumage, a native of a hot 

 region ; yet our cold, wet climate and its unmodified 

 bright colours have not been fatal to it, and practi- 



