BIRDS V. GARDENING. 



57 



tions on its habits. From this we learn that our Kentish friends have a 

 new enemy to Cherry culture, as Mr. Howard watched the hawfinches 

 devouring small green Cherries in May when they were, of course, 

 scarcely formed, and would, one would think, scarcely have proved an 

 attraction to the hungriest of birds. The fruit is at that time so small 

 and inconspicuous from its colour, that its loss might well remain 

 unnoticed for weeks until all chance of tracing the mischief is well 

 passed, so that Cherry growers owe a deep debt of gratitude to this clever 

 observer for placing them on their guard. I have known rooks and 

 jackdaws play havoc among Peas, pulling the haulm out flat upon the 

 ground to pick them ; but this was among seed Peas grown at a distance 

 from a house ; they do not often venture into the garden proper. 



I mentioned the sparrow's predilection for fruit buds, but must own 

 that the bullfinch goes beyond him in this respect, being the worst 

 sinner the gardener has to contend with in this particular line, and the 

 destruction a pair can bring about in a short time is astonishing. The 

 bullfinch is among the most handsome of British birds, and with the 

 above-mentioned exception his character, if not " bearing the strictest 

 investigation," is fairly up to the average ; but one's natural leaning 

 towards a charming exterior cannot blind one sufficiently to accept the 

 suggestion sometimes held out, that "he is only seeking for insects" 

 when disbudding Plum trees &c. ; a theory often put forward, but for 

 which I have never heard a shadow of evidence. In many country 

 gardens surrounded by woods it is absolutely necessary to wage a war of 

 extermination against "Bully" or give up any idea of a fruit crop. 

 Any one with a fairly quick ear can easily distinguish the call of a bull- 

 finch from any other note, and by repeating it two or three times a 

 shooter can almost invariably bring one within easy range. 



A common plea in mitigation of sentence upon the above-enumerated 

 seed destroyers is that though they devour our choicest garden seeds 

 they almost balance the account by eating large quantities of weed seed. 

 This argument has been advanced by almost every writer in favour 

 of birds, but I must say that I think a great deal too much has been 

 made of it. A weed left to itself sheds perhaps some thousands of 

 seeds in its immediate neighbourhood, which come up in a mass so 

 numerous that their very number tends to smothering and weakness 

 rather than healthy growth and further increase. Watch a bird attack 

 that plant : he tousles it about and scatters the seeds over four times 

 the area they would naturally have covered, and though he may perhaps 

 account for 50 or even 75 per cent, of the crop of seeds, the remainder, 

 thanks to his efforts, will have a better chance of coming to perfection 

 than wind and weather unaided would have given it. 



I have spoken of some troubles of the gardener early in the season ; 

 but perhaps that which touches many people most nearly is the theft and 

 damage done to ripening fruit when, after much trouble and many 

 dangers, the crop is almost within their reach. 



Among fruit robbers the blackbird is the king, being raised " to 

 that bad eminence" by his appetite and the catholicity of his tastes. 

 Every kind of small fruit suffers from the blackbird's attentions, and 

 when these fail it attacks the Apples and Pears, especially fruits growing 



