166 BIRDS AND MAN 



the surface of the earth into innumerable 

 segments of various shapes and sizes. It is not 

 wild, but there is something in it of the 

 desolation that accompanies wildness — a promise 

 soon to be fulfilled, now that grass and herbage 

 win have freedom to grow, and the hedges that 

 have been trimmed for a thousand years will no 

 longer be restrained from spreading. 



In this district the farmhouses and cottages 

 are not scattered over the country. The farm- 

 buildings, as a rule, form part of the village; 

 the villages are small and mostly hidden from 

 sight among embowering trees or in a coombe. 

 From the high ground in some places it is 

 possible to gaze over many miles of surrounding 

 country and not see a human habitation ; hours 

 may sometimes be passed in such a spot without 

 a human figure appearing in the landscape. 



The village I was staying at is called WiUer- 

 sey ; the nearest to it, a little over a mile away, 

 is Saintbury. This last was just such a pretty 

 peaceful spot as would tempt a world-weary 

 man to exclaim on first catching sight of it, 

 " Here I could wish to end my days." A Uttle 

 old-world village, set among trees in the 



