BIRDS IN A VILLAGE. 
35 
of the chaffinch. The song of this bird gains 
greatly when heard from a tall tree in the wood- 
land silence ; it has then a resonance and wildness 
which it appears to lack in the garden and orchard. 
In the village I had been glad to find that the 
chaffinch was not too common, that in the tangle 
of minstrelsy one could enjoy there his vigorous 
voice was not predominant. 
On emerging from the deep shade of the beeches 
into the wide grassy road that separated the wood 
from the orchards and plantations of fruit trees, 
and pausing for a minute to look down on the 
more than half-hidden village, invariably the first 
loud sounds that reached my ear were those of the 
cuckoo, thrush, and blackbird. At all hours in the 
village, from early morning to evening twilight, 
these three voices sounded far and near above the 
others. I considered myself fortunate that no 
large tree near the cottage had been made choice 
of by a song-thrush as a singing-stand during the 
early hours. The nearest tree so favoured was on 
the further side of a field, so that when I woke at 
half-past three or four o'clock, the shrill, inde- 
fatigable voice came in at the open window 
softened by distance and washed by the dewy 
atmosphere to greater purity. Throstle and sky- 
lark to be admired must be heard at a distance. 
But at that early hour when I sat by the open 
