THE REDWING 
under which grew briar and privet. The rain 
and frost had left no greenery on either, but 
they gave a semblance of shelter, and the birds 
settled in them gratefully. The snow lay an 
inch deep in all the clearings, and the native 
Fur and Feather Folk had already begun to 
shift their quarters as is their custom in sudden 
calamities such as flood, snow or drought. Bull- 
finches, cheeping drearily,left the privet thickets 
where they had passed the lotus days of Octo- 
ber : woodpigeons, wholly bewildered, clattered 
in and out of the trees : the rabbit trails wove 
lacy patterns in the rides and clearings. 
Meanwhile the western clouds were cloven, and 
the greenish sky gave promise of frost. The 
rooks, empty cropped for the most part, flapped 
homewards in three great armies north from 
Ballinakill, south from Moyle, and east from 
Coolachiel ; and among their sober ranks, like 
mosquitoes among bees, buzzed hordes of 
noisy wheezing starlings. 
The hungrier the Feather Folk may be, the 
more loudly will they declaim the fact to the 
woods at roosting-time. Londub the Black- 
bird protested vigorously when a bunch of 
starlings bounced into his bush ; and every 
starling tried half a dozen perches 
before he was suited, explaining volubly 
to the world, meanwhile, why each 
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