14 



ON DESTROYING VERMIN. 



nuts and seeds, and on the tender bark of the 

 lime tree, &c. : but rest assured that it never 

 touches flesh, or kills birds, or sucks eggs. The 

 shepherds of Wiltshire who have backed 

 Master Charles in his important discovery 

 deserve a birch rod. These rural sinners, both 

 young and old, would swear that the moon 

 was made of Jones's lucifers, if you would give 

 them a quart of ale apiece. All my labourers 

 believe that the heron thrusts its legs through 

 the nest during incubation ; and they will all 

 tell you that the cuckoo becomes scabbed at 

 the close of summer. (i As scabbed as a 

 cuckoo." This, by the way, comes from the 

 mottled appearance which the plumage of the 

 bird puts on at that time of the year. It is 

 caused by the growth of the adult feathers 

 amongst the chicken feathers. I pity 'the poor 

 squirrels from my heart. Our country squires 

 will now consign them over to the tender 

 mercy of their gamekeepers, and we shall hear 

 of squirrels shot by the dozen. The squirrel 

 is a most harmless animal, except in a nut 

 orchard, from which he ought to be expelled 

 without loss of time, as the damage which he 

 does there is incalculable ; but I would trust him 



