A COUNTRY GARDEN IN WINTER. 243 
the Ice King, who reserves his chief marvels for the eye of the 
countryman alone. 
But the garden, to one who loves it, offers further pleasures 
in winter. There is first the satisfaction of putting everything 
in thorough order. Plots of ground that were perforce neglected 
in the summer can now be made neat, fruit-trees and roses can 
be staked, and rubbish cleared out of the way and burned. 
Then there are the delights of anticipation, for the gardener is 
before all things a man of faith. In winter he examines the 
buds on his peach and plum trees, and already sees his next 
season’s crop. This bare patch of ground shall, he thinks, next 
spring be starred with narcissus ; on that wall will gleam golden 
roses ; along this border tall lilies will lift their snowy heads. 
Then, in frosty weather, there are trees to be felled and faggots 
to be tied, and on misty rainy days there is sawing and splitting 
of logs in the wood-shed. A capital exercise is this latter ! 
It will make you warm on the coldest day, and as the wedge 
cleaves the sawn blocks into triangular segments, you think with 
satisfaction of the crackling fires they will make in your dining- 
room. 
Do you not envy us this recreation, O Londoner ? Have 
you any like resource during your dismal weeks of smoky fog, 
that is, exclusive of such things as theatre-going and concert- 
hearing, which are, after all, mere passive enjoyments ? 
Not many birds frequent the garden in winter, but those 
there are can be observed to great advantage. In cold weather 
we always throw them out crumbs from the window. This 
seems like feeding our enemies, for they are terribly unprincipled 
as regards the fruit in summer, but we do it all the same, and 
consider ourselves amply repaid by the pleasure of watching 
their beautiful plumage and graceful movements. Scores of 
sparrows, tits, chaffinches and robins come and feed un- 
concernedly under our very eyes. The robin is perhaps the 
favourite ; there is a fearlessness, a saucy confidence about 
him that is truly fascinating. For the special benefit of the tits 
we saw coco-nuts in half and hang them up on the branches 
of trees, or on a nail close to our window-sill. The tits come 
and banquet on them in a manner that makes one tremble for 
their digestions. 
Generally speaking, our winter birds are apparently confined 
to a few varieties ; one wonders what becomes of the others — 
that is, of those that do not migrate. 
“ Ilk happing bird, wee helpless thing, 
That in the merry months of spring 
Delighted me to hear thee sing. 
What comes o’ thee ? ” 
In very severe weather unwonted visitors, such as rooks, 
come to the garden in quest of food, and one winter, when 
there was deep snow, a flock of fieldfares suddenly made their 
appearance, and remained with us till they had stripped every 
