30 
Lost British Birds . 
head, the usual company of small wandering titmice, with 
here and there a robin, wren, or creeper—a day of terribly 
small things for the ornithologist! If, by chance, a buzzard 
or heron should appear, the unexpectedness of the sight, 
the great size by contrast of such a bird, the instant relief 
and change it affords from the almost hateful monotony 
which English bird life usually presents, excites the beholder 
with astonishment and delight, as if some lordly giant among 
the avians had been seen—an ostrich or a condor. 
For this condition of things we have to thank the game- 
preserver. 
