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diff --git a/36949.txt b/36949.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..463b865 --- /dev/null +++ b/36949.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9369 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Wild Life in a Southern County, by Richard Jefferies + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wild Life in a Southern County + +Author: Richard Jefferies + +Release Date: August 2, 2011 [EBook #36949] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Wild Life in a Southern County +By Richard Jefferies +Published by Smith, Elder, & Co, London. +This edition dated 1879. +Wild Life in a Southern County, by Richard Jefferies. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +________________________________________________________________________ +WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY, BY RICHARD JEFFERIES. + + +PREFACE. + +There is a frontier line to civilisation in this country yet, and not +far outside its great centres we come quickly even now on the borderland +of nature. Modern progress, except where it has exterminated them, has +scarcely touched the habits of bird or animal; so almost up to the very +houses of the metropolis the nightingale yearly returns to her former +haunts. If we go a few hours' journey only, and then step just beyond +the highway--where the steam ploughing engine has left the mark of its +wide wheels on the dust--and glance into the hedgerow, the copse, or +stream, there are nature's children as unrestrained in their wild, free +life as they were in the veritable backwoods of primitive England. So, +too, in some degree with the tillers of the soil: old manners and +customs linger, and there seems an echo of the past in the breadth of +their pronunciation. + +But a difficulty confronts the explorer who would carry away a note of +what he has seen, because nature is not cut and dried to hand, nor +easily classified, each subject shading gradually into another. In +studying the ways, for instance, of so common a bird as the starling it +cannot be separated from the farmhouse in the thatch of which it often +breeds, the rooks with whom it associates, or the friendly sheep upon +whose backs it sometimes rides. Since the subjects are so closely +connected, it is best, perhaps, to take the places they prefer for the +convenience of division, and group them as far as possible in the +districts they usually frequent. + +The following chapters have, therefore, been so arranged as to +correspond in some degree with the contour of the country. Commencing +at the highest spot, an ancient entrenchment on the Downs has been +chosen as the starting-place from whence to explore the uplands. +Beneath the hill a spring breaks forth, and, tracing its course +downwards, there next come the village and the hamlet. Still farther +the streamlet becomes a broad brook, flowing through meadows in the +midst of which stands a solitary farmhouse. The house itself, the +garden and orchard, are visited by various birds and animals. In the +fields immediately around--in the great hedges and the copse--are +numerous others, and an expedition is made to the forest. Returning to +the farm again as a centre, the rookery remains to be examined, and the +ways and habits of the inhabitants of the hedges. Finally come the fish +and wild-fowl of the brook and lake;--finishing in the Vale. + +R.J. + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE DOWNS--THE ENTRENCHMENT--WAYS OF LARKS--HARES--A COMBAT--HAPPINESS +OF ANIMALS--ANTS--A LONG JOURNEY. + +The most commanding down is crowned with the grassy mound and trenches +of an ancient earthwork, from whence there is a noble view of hill and +plain. The inner slope of the green fosse is inclined at an angle +pleasant to recline on, with the head just below the edge, in the summer +sunshine. A faint sound as of a sea heard in a dream--a sibilant `sish, +sish,'--passes along outside, dying away and coming again as a fresh +wave of the wind rushes through the bennets and the dry grass. There is +the happy hum of bees--who love the hills--as they speed by laden with +their golden harvest, a drowsy warmth, and the delicious odour of wild +thyme. Behind the fosse sinks, and the rampart rises high and steep-- +two butterflies are wheeling in uncertain flight over the summit. It is +only necessary to raise the head a little way, and the cool breeze +refreshes the cheek--cool at this height while the plains beneath glow +under the heat. + +Presently a small swift shadow passes across--it is that of a hawk +flying low over the hill. He skirts it for some distance, and then +shoots out into the air, comes back half-way, and hangs over the fallow +below, where there is a small rick. His wings vibrate, striking the air +downwards, and only slightly backwards, the tail depressed counteracting +the inclination to glide forwards for awhile. In a few moments he +slips, as it were, from his balance, but brings, himself up again in a +few yards, turning a curve so as to still hover above the rick. If he +espies a tempting morsel he drops like a stone, and alights on a spot +almost exactly below him--a power which few birds seem to possess. Most +of them approach the ground gradually, the plane of their flight sloping +slowly to the earth, and the angle decreasing every moment till it +becomes parallel, when they have only to drop their legs, shut their +wings, and, as it were, stand upright in the air to find themselves safe +on the sward. By that time their original impetus has diminished, and +they feel no shock from the cessation of motion. The hawk, on the +contrary, seems to descend nearly in a perpendicular line. + +The lark does the same, and often from a still greater height descending +so swiftly that by comparison with other birds it looks as if she must +be dashed to pieces; but when within a few yards of the ground, the +wings are outstretched, and she glides along some distance before +alighting. This latter motion makes it difficult to tell where a lark +actually does alight. So, too, with snipe: they appear to drop in a +corner of the brook, and you feel positive that a certain bunch of +rushes is the precise place; but before you get there the snipe is up +again under your feet, ten or fifteen yards closer than you supposed, +having shot along hidden by the banks, just above the water, out of +sight. + +Sometimes, after soaring to an unusual elevation, the lark comes down, +as it were, in one or two stages: after dropping say fifty feet, the +wings are employed, and she shoots forward horizontally some way, which +checks the velocity. Repeating this twice or more, she reaches the +ground safely. In rising up to sing she often traces a sweeping spiral +in the air at first, going round once or twice; after which, seeming to +settle on the line she means to ascend, she goes up almost +perpendicularly in a series of leaps, as it were--pausing a moment to +gather impetus, and then shooting upwards till a mere speck in the sky. +When ten or twelve larks are singing at once, all within a narrow +radius--a thing that may be often witnessed from these downs in the +spring--the charm of their vivacious notes is greater than when one +solitary bird alone discourses sweet music which is lost in the blue +dome overhead. + +At that time they seem to feed only a few minutes consecutively, and +then, as if seized with an uncontrollable impulse, rush up into the air +to deliver a brief song, descend, and repeat the process for hours. +They have a way, too, of rising but six or eight yards above the earth, +spreading the wings out and keeping them nearly still, floating slowly +forward, all the while uttering one sweet note softly. The sward by the +roadside appears to have a special attraction for them; they constantly +come over from the arable fields, alight there, and presently return. +In the early spring, when love-making is in full progress, the +cornfields where the young green blades are just showing, become the +scene of the most amusing rivalry. Far as the eye can see across the +ground it seems alive with larks--chasing each other to and fro, round +and round, with excited calls, flying close to the surface, continually +alighting, and springing up again. A gleam of sunshine and a warm south +wind brings forth these merry antics. So like in general hue is the +lark to the lumps of brown earth that even at a few paces it is +difficult to distinguish her. Some seem always to remain in the +meadows; but the majority frequent the arable land, and especially the +cornfields on the slopes of the downs, where they may be found in such +numbers as rival or perhaps exceed those of any other bird. + +At first sight starlings seem more numerous; but this arises from their +habit of gathering together in such vast flocks, blackening the earth +where they alight. But you may walk a whole day across the downs and +still find larks everywhere; so that though scattered abroad they +probably equal or exceed the starlings, who show so much more. They are +by no means timid, being but little disturbed here: you can get near +enough to watch every motion, and if they rise it is only to sing. They +never seem to know precisely where they are going to alight--as if, +indeed, they were nervously particular and must find a clod that pleases +them, picking and choosing with the greatest nicety. + +Many other birds exhibit a similar trait: instead of perching on the +first branch, they hesitate, and daintily decline the bough not quite to +their fancy. Blackbirds will cruise along the whole length of a hedge +before finding a bush to their liking; they look in several times ere +finally deciding. Wood-pigeons will make straight for a tree, and +slacken speed and show every sign of choosing it, and suddenly, without +the slightest cause apparently, go half a mile farther. The partridge +which you could vow had dropped just over the hedge has done no such +thing; just before touching the ground she has turned at right angles +and gone fifty yards down it. + +The impression left after watching the motions of birds is that of +extreme mobility--a life of perpetual impulse checked only by fear. +With one or two exceptions, they do not appear to have the least idea of +saving labour by clearing one spot of ground of food before flying +farther: they just hastily snatch a morsel and off again; or, in a tree, +peer anxiously into every crack and crevice on one bough, and away to +another tree a hundred yards distant, leaving fifty boughs behind +without examination. Starlings literally race over the earth where they +are feeding--jealous of each other lest one should be first, and so they +leave a tract all around not so much as looked at. Then, having run a +little way, they rise and fly to another part of the field. Each +starling seems full of envy and emulation--eager to outstrip his fellow +in the race for titbits; and so they all miss much of what they might +otherwise find. Their life is so gregarious that it resembles that of +men in cities: watching one another with feverish anxiety--pushing and +bustling. Larks are much calmer, and always appear placid even in their +restlessness, and do not jostle their neighbours. + +See--the hawk, after going nearly out of sight, has swept round, and +passes again at no great distance; this is a common habit of his kind, +to beat round in wide circles. As the breeze strikes him aslant his +course he seems to fly for a short time partly on one side, like a +skater sliding on the outer edge. + +There is a rough grass growing within the enclosure of the earthwork and +here and there upon the hills, which the sheep will not eat, so that it +remains in matted masses. In this the hares make their forms; and they +must, somehow, have a trick of creeping into their places, since many of +the grass-blades often arch over, and if they sprang into the form +heedlessly this could not be the case, as their size and weight would +crush it down. When startled by a passer-by the hare--unless there is a +dog--goes off in a leisurely fashion, doubtless feeling quite safe in +the length of his legs, and after getting a hundred yards or so sits +upon his haunches and watches the intruder. Their `runs' or paths are +rather broader than a rabbit's, and straighter--the rabbit does not +ramble so far from home; he has his paths across the meadow to the hedge +on the other side, but no farther. The hare's track may be traced for a +great distance crossing the hills; but while the roads are longer they +are much fewer in number. The rabbit makes a perfect network of `runs,' +and seems always to feed from a regular path; the hare apparently feeds +anywhere, without much reference to the `runs,' which he uses simply to +get from one place to another in the most direct line, and also, it may +be suspected, as a promenade on which to meet the ladies of his +acquaintance by moonlight. + +It is amusing to see two of these animals drumming each other; they +stand on their hind legs (which are very long) like a dog taught to beg, +and strike with the fore-pads as if boxing, only the blow is delivered +downwards instead of from the shoulder. The clatter of their pads may +be heard much farther than would be supposed. Round and round they go +like a couple waltzing; now one giving ground and then the other, the +fore-legs striking all the while with marvellous rapidity. Presently +they pause--it is to recover breath only; and, `time' being up, to work +they go again with renewed energy, dancing round and round, till the +observer cannot choose but smile. This trick they will continue till +you are weary of watching. + +There are holes on the hills, not above a yard deep and entering the +slope horizontally, which are said to be used by the hares more in a +playful mood than from any real desire of shelter. Yet they dislike +wet; most wild animals do. Birds, on the contrary, find it answer their +purpose, grubs and worms abounding at such times. Though the hare is of +a wandering disposition he usually returns to the same form, and, if +undisturbed, will use it every day for a length of time, at night +perhaps being miles away. If hard pressed by the dogs he will leap a +broad brook in fine style, but he usually prefers to cross by a bridge. +In the evening, as it grows dusk, if you watch from the elevation of the +entrenchment, you may see these creatures steal out into the level +cornfield below, first one, then two, presently five or six--looming +much larger than they really are in the dusk, and seeming to appear upon +the scene suddenly. They have a trick of stealing along close to the +low mounds which divide arable fields, so that they are unobserved till +they turn out into the open ground. + +It is not easy to distinguish a hare when crouching in a ploughed field, +his colour harmonises so well with the clods; so that an unpractised eye +generally fails to note him. An old hand with the gun cannot pass a +field without involuntarily glancing along the furrows made by the +plough to see if their regular grooves are broken by anything hiding +therein. The ploughmen usually take special care with their work near +public roads, so that the furrows end on to the base of the highway +shall be mathematically straight. They often succeed so well that the +furrows look as if traced with a ruler, and exhibit curious effects of +vanishing perspective. Along the furrow, just as it is turned, there +runs a shimmering light as the eye traces it up. The ploughshare, heavy +and drawn with great force, smooths the earth as it cleaves it, giving +it for a time a `face' as it were, the moisture on which reflects the +light. If you watch the farmers driving to market, you will see that +they glance up the furrows to note the workmanship and look for game; +you may tell from a distance if they espy a hare by the check of the +rein and the extended hand pointing. + +The partridges, too, cower as they hear the noise of wheels or +footsteps, but their brown backs, rounded as they stoop, do not deceive +the eye that knows full well the irregular shape taken by lumps of +earth. Both hares and rabbits may be watched with ease from an +elevation, and if you remain quiet will rarely discover your presence +while you are above them. They keep a sharp look-out all round, but +never think of glancing upwards, unless, of course, some unusual noise +attracts attention. + +Looking away from the brow of the hill here over the rampart, see, +yonder in the narrow hollow a flock is feeding: you can tell even so far +off that it is feeding, because the sheep are scattered about, dotted +hither and thither over the surface. It is their habit the moment they +are driven to run together. Farther away, slowly travelling up a +distant down, another flock, packed close, rises towards the ridge, like +a thick white mist stealthily ascending the slope. + +Just outside the trench, almost within reach, there lies a small white +something, half hidden by the grass. It is the skull of a hare, +bleached by the winds and the dew and the heat of the summer sun. The +skeleton has disappeared, nothing but the bony casing of the head +remains, with its dim suggestiveness of life, polished and smooth from +the friction of the elements. Holding it in the hand the shadow falls +into and darkens the cavities once filled by the wistful eyes which +whilom glanced down from the summit here upon the sweet clover fields +beneath. Beasts of prey and wandering dogs have carried away the bones +of the skeleton, dropping them far apart; the crows and the ants +doubtless had their share of the carcass. Perhaps a wound caused by +shot that did not immediately check his speed, or wasting disease +depriving him of strength to obtain food, brought him low; mayhap an +insidious enemy crept on him in his form. + +The joy in life of these animals--indeed, of almost all animals and +birds in freedom--is very great. You may see it in every motion: in the +lissom bound of the hare, the playful leap of the rabbit, the song that +the lark and the finch _must_ sing; the soft, loving coo of the dove in +the hawthorn; the blackbird ruffling out his feathers on a rail. The +sense of living--the consciousness of seeing and feeling--is manifestly +intense in them all, and is in itself an exquisite pleasure. Their +appetites seem ever fresh: they rush to the banquet spread by Mother +Earth with a gusto that Lucullus never knew in the midst of his artistic +gluttony; they drink from the stream with dainty sips as though it were +richest wine. Watch the birds in the spring; the pairs dance from bough +to bough, and know not how to express their wild happiness. The hare +rejoices in the swiftness of his limbs: his nostrils sniff the air, his +strong sinews spurn the earth; like an arrow from a bow he shoots up the +steep hill that we must clamber slowly, halting half-way to breathe. On +outspread wings the swallow floats above, then slants downwards with a +rapid swoop, and with the impetus of the motion rises easily. Therefore +it is that this skull here, lying so light in the palm of the hand, with +the bright sunshine falling on it, and a shadowy darkness in the vacant +orbits of the eyes, fills us with sadness. `As leaves on leaves, so men +on men decay;' how much more so with these creatures whose generations +are so short. + +If we look closely into the grass here on the slope of the fosse it is +animated by a busy throng of insects rushing in hot haste to and fro. +They must find it a labour and a toil to make progress through the green +forest of grass-blade and moss and heaths and thick thyme bunches, +over-topping them as cedars, but cedars all strewn in confusion, +crossing and interlacing, with no path through the jungle. Watch this +ant travelling patiently onward, and mark the distance traversed by the +milestone of a tall bennet. + +First up on a dry white stalk of grass lingering from last autumn; then +down on to a thistle leaf, round it, and along a bent blade leading +beneath into the intricacy and darkness at the roots. Presently, after +a prolonged absence, up again on a dead fibre of grass, brown and +withered, torn up by the sheep but not eaten: this lies like a bridge +across a yawning chasm--the mark or indentation left by the hoof of a +horse scrambling up when the turf was wet and soft. Half-way across the +weight of the ant overbalances it, slight as that weight is, and down it +goes into the cavity: undaunted, after getting clear, the insect begins +to climb up the precipitous edge and again plunges into the wood. +Coming to a broader leaf, which promises an open space, it is found to +be hairy, and therefore impassable except with infinite trouble; so the +wayfarer endeavours to pass underneath, but has in the end to work round +it. Then a breadth of moss intervenes, which is worse than the vast +prickly hedges with which savage kings fence their cities to the +explorer, who can get no certain footing on it, but falls through and +climbs up again twenty times, and burrows a way somehow in the shady +depths below. + +Next, a bunch of thyme crosses the path: and here for a lengthened +period the ant goes utterly out of sight, lost in the interior, slowly +groping round about within, and finally emerging in a glade where your +walking-stick, carelessly thrown on the ground, bends back the grass and +so throws open a lane to the traveller. In a straight line the distance +thus painfully traversed may be ten or twelve inches; certainly in +getting over it the insect has covered not less than three times as +much, probably more--now up, now down, backwards and sideways, searching +out a passage. + +As this process goes on from morn till night through the long summer's +day, some faint idea may be obtained of the journeys thus performed, +against difficulties and obstacles before which the task of crossing +Africa from sea to sea is a trifle. How, for instance, does the ant +manage to keep a tolerably correct course, steering straight despite the +turns and labyrinthine involutions of the path? It is never possible to +see far in front--half the time not twice its own length; often and +often it is necessary to retrace the trail and strike out a fresh one--a +step that would confuse most persons even in an English wood with which +they were unacquainted. + +Yet by some power of observation, perhaps superior in this respect to +the abilities of greater creatures, the tiny thing guides its footsteps +without faltering down yonder to the nest in the hollow on the bank of +the ploughed field. I say by observation, and the exercise of faculties +resembling those of the mind, because I have many times tried the +supposed unerring instinct of the ant, and found it fail: therefore it +must possess a power of correcting error which is the prerogative of +reason. Ants cannot, under certain conditions, distinguish their own +special haunts. Across a garden path I frequented there was the track +of innumerable ants; their ceaseless journeyings had worn a visible path +leading from the border on one side to the border on the other, where +was a tiny hole, into which they each disappeared in turn. Happily, the +garden was neglected, otherwise the besom of the gardener would have +swept away all traces of the highway they had made. Watching the stream +of life pouring swiftly along the track, it seemed to me that, like men +walking hurriedly in well-known streets, they took no note of marks or +bearings, but followed each other unhesitatingly in the groove. + +When street-pavements are torn up, the human stream disperses and flows +out on either side till it discovers by experience the most convenient +makeshift passage. What would be the result if this Watling-street of +the ants were interrupted? With a fragment of wood I rubbed out three +inches of the path worn in the shallow film of soil deposited over the +old gravel, smoothing that much down level. Instantly the crowd came to +a stop. The foremost ant halted at the edge where the groove now +terminated, turned round, and had an excited conversation with the next +by means of their antennae; a third came up, a fourth and fifth--a crowd +collected, in fact. Now, there was no real obstruction--nothing to +prevent them from rushing across to the spot where the path recommenced. +Why, then, did they pause? Why, presently, begin to explore, right and +left, darting to one side and then to the other examining? Was it not +because an old and acquired habit was suddenly uprooted? Surely +infallible instinct could have carried them across the space of three +inches without any trouble of investigation? + +In a few seconds one of the exploring parties, making a curve, hit the +other end of the path, and the news was quickly spread, for the rest +followed almost immediately. Placing a small pebble across the track on +another occasion caused almost the same amount of interference with the +traffic. Near the hole into which the ants plunged under the border, +and on the edge of the bank, so to say, the path they had worn was not +visible--the ground was hard and did not take impression; and there, +losing the guidance of the groove, they often made mistakes. Instead of +hitting the right hole, many of them missed it and entered other holes +left by boring worms, and after a short time reappeared to search again, +till, finding the cavern, they hastily plunged into it. This was +particularly the case when a solitary insect came along. Therefore it +would seem that the ant works its way tentatively, and, observing where +it fails, tries another place and succeeds. + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +A DROUGHT--ANCIENT GARRISON OF THE ENTRENCHMENT--TRADITIONS OF FOREST-- +CURIOUS PONDS--A MIRAGE. + +Once now and then in the cycle of the years there comes a summer which +to the hills is almost like a fever to the blood, wasting and drying up +with its heat the green things upon which animal life depends, so that +drought and famine go hand in hand. The days go by and grow to weeks, +the weeks lengthen to months, and still no rain. The sun pours down his +burning rays, which become hotter as the season advances; the sky is +blue and beautiful over the hills--beautiful, but pitiless to the +bleating flocks beneath. The breeze comes up from the south, bringing +with it white clouds sailing at an immense height, with openings between +like azure lakes or aerial Mediterraneans landlocked by banks of vapour. + +These, if you watch them from the rampart, slowly dissolve; fragments +break away from the mass as the edges of the polar glaciers slip off the +ice-cliff into the sea, only these are noiseless. The fragment detached +grows visibly thinner and more translucent, its margin stretching out in +an uneven fringe: the process is almost exactly like the unravelling of +a spotless garment, the threads wavering and twisting as they are +carried along by the current, diminishing till they fade and are lost in +the ocean of blue. This breaking of the clouds is commonly seen in +weather that promises to be fine. From the brow here, you may note a +solitary cloud just risen above the horizon; it floats slowly towards +us; presently it divides into several parts; these, again, fall away in +jagged, irregular pieces like flecks of foam. By the time it has +reached the zenith these flecks have lengthened out, and shortly +afterwards the cloud has entirely melted and is gone. The delicate hue, +the contrast of the fleecy white with the deepest azure, the +ever-changing form, the light shining through the gauzy texture, the +gentle dreamy motion, lend these clouds an exquisite beauty. + +After a while the faint breeze increases, but changes in character; it +blows steadily, and the `sish sish' of the bennets as it rushes through +them becomes incessant. A sense of oppression weighs on the chest--in +the midst of the wind, on the verge of the hill, you sigh for a breath +of air. This is not air: it is simply heat in motion. It is like the +simoom of the desert--producing a feeling of intense weariness. +Previously the distant ridges of the downs were shaded by a dim haze +hovering over them, toning the rolling curves and softening the bolder +bluffs. Now they become distinct; each line is drawn clearly and stands +out; the definition is like that which occurs before rain, only without +the illusion of nearness. + +But the hot wind blows and the rain does not come: the sky is open and +free from clouds, less blue perhaps, but harder in tint. The nights are +bright and clear and warm; you may sit here on the turf till midnight +and find no dew, and still feel the languid, enervating influence of the +hot blast. This goes in time, and is succeeded by heavy morning mists +hanging like a cloak over the hills and filling up the hollows. They +roll away as the day advances, and there is the sun bright as ever in +the midst of the cloudless sky. The shepherds say the mists carry away +the rain; certainly it does not come. + +Every now and then promising signs exhibit themselves. A black bank of +vapour receives the setting sun, and in the east huge mountainous clouds +with beetling precipices and caverns, in which surely the thunder lurks, +swell and roll upwards in the hush of the evening. The farmer unrolls +his canvas over the new-made hayrick, which is not yet thatched, +thinking that a torrent will descend in the night; but no, the morrow is +the same. It is a peculiarity of our usually changeable climate that +when once the weather has become thoroughly settled either to dry or +wet, no signs of alteration are of any value, true as they may be at +other times. + +So the heat continues and the drought increases. The `land-springs' +breaking out by the sides of the fields have long since disappeared; the +true springs run feebly as the stores of water in the interior of the +earth gradually grow less. Great cracks open in the clay of the meadows +down below in the vale--rifts, wide and deep, into which you may thrust +your walking-stick to the handle. Up here on the hills the turf grows +hard and inelastic; it loses that `springy' feel under the foot which +makes it so pleasant to walk upon. The grass becomes dull in tint and +touches like wire--all the sap dried from it, and nothing but fibre +left. Beneath the chalk is moistureless, and nothing can grow on it. +The byroads and paths made with the chalk or `rubble' glare in the +sunlight, and the flints scattered so thickly about the ploughed fields +seem to radiate heat. All things that should look green are brown and +dusty; even the leaves on the elms seem dusty. The wheat only +flourishes, tall and strong--deep tinted yellow here, a ruddy, golden +bronze yonder, with ears full and heavy, rich and glorious to gaze upon. +Insects multiply and replenish the earth after their fashion +exceedingly; the spiders are busy as may be, not only those that watch +from their webs lying in wait, but those that chase their prey through +the grass as dogs do game. + +But under the beautiful sky and the glorious sun there rises up a +pitiful cry the livelong day: it is the quavering bleat of the sheep as +their strength slowly ebbs out of them for the lack of food. Green +crops and roots fail, the aftermath in the meadows beneath will not +grow, week after week `keep' becomes scarcer and more expensive, and +there is, in fact, a famine. Of all animals a starved sheep is the most +wretched to contemplate, not only because of the angularity of outline, +and the cavernous depressions where fat and flesh should be, but because +the associations of many generations have given the sheep a peculiar +claim upon humanity. They hang entirely on human help. They watch for +the shepherd as though he were their father; and when he comes he can do +no good, so that there is no more painful spectacle than a fold during a +drought upon the hills. + +Once upon a time, passing on foot for a distance of some twenty-five +miles across these hills and grassy uplands, I could not help comparing +the scene to what travellers tell us of desert lands and foreign +famines. The whole of that long summer's day, as I hastened southwards, +eager for the beach and the scent of the sea, I passed flocks of dying +sheep: in the hollows by the way their skeletons were here and there to +be seen, the gaunt ribs protruding upwards in the horrible manner that +the ribs of dead creatures do. Crowds of flies buzzed in the air. Upon +the hurdles perched the crow, bold with over-feasting, and hardly +turning to look at me, waiting there till the next lamb should fall and +the `spirit of the beast go downwards.' Happy England, that experiences +these things so seldom, and even then so locally that barely one in ten +hears of or sees them! + +The cattle of course suffer too; all day long files of water-carts go +down into the hollows where the springs burst forth, and at such times +half the work of the farm consists in fetching the precious liquid +perhaps a mile or more. Even in ordinary summers there is often a +difficulty of this kind; and there are some farmhouses whose water for +household uses has to be brought fully half a mile. Of recent years +more wells have been sunk, but there are still too few for the purpose. +The effect of water in determining the settlements of human beings is +clearly shown here. You may walk mile after mile on the ridges and pass +nothing but a shed; the houses are in the hollows, the `coombes' or +`bottoms,' as they are called, where the springs run. The villages on +the downs are generally on a `bourne,' or winter watercourse. + +In summer it is a broad winding trench with low green banks, along whose +bed you may stroll dry-shod, with the yellow corn on either hand +reaching above your head. A few sedges here and there, and that +peculiar whitened appearance left when water has passed over vegetation, +betoken that once there was a stream. It is like the watercourses and +rivers of the East, which are the roads of the traveller till the storm +comes, and, lo! in the morning is a rushing flood. Near the village +some water is to be seen in the pond which has been deepened out to hold +it, and which is, too, kept up here by a spring. + +In winter the bourne often has the appearance of a broad brook: you may +observe where the current has arranged the small flints washed in from +the fields by the rain. As the villages are on the lesser `bournes,' so +the towns are placed on the banks of the rivers these fall into. There +may generally be found a row of villages and hamlets on the last slope +of the downs, where the hills sink finally away into the plain and vale, +so that if anyone went along the edge of the hills he would naturally +think the district well populated. But if instead of following the edge +he penetrated into the interior he would find the precise contrary to be +the case. Just at the edge there is water, the `heads' of the +innumerable streams that make the vale so verdant. In the days when +wealth consisted chiefly in flocks and herds, men would naturally settle +where there were `water-brooks.' + +When at last the drought ceases, and the rain does come, it often pours +with tropical vehemence; so that the soil of the fields upon the slopes +is carried away into the brooks, and the furrows are filled up level +with the sand washed out from the clods, the lighter particles of earth +floating suspended in the stream, the heavier sand remaining behind. +Then, sometimes, as the slow labourer lingers over the ground, with eyes +ever bent downwards, he spies a faint glitter, and picks up an antique +coin in his horny fingers: coins are generally found after a shower, on +the same principle that the gold-seekers wash away the auriferous soil +in the `cradle,' and lay bare the yellow atoms. Such coins, too, are +sometimes of the same precious metal, ancient and rude. Sometimes the +edge of the hoe clinks against a coin, thus at last discovered after so +many centuries; yet which for years must have lain so near the surface +as to have been turned over and over again by the ploughshare, though +unnoticed. + +The magnitude of the space enclosed by the earthwork, the height of the +rampart and depth of the fosse, show that it was originally intended to +be occupied by a large force. With modern artillery, the mitrailleuse, +and above all the breech-loading rifle, a comparatively small number of +men could hold a commanding position like this: a steep ascent on three +sides, and on the fourth a narrow level ridge, easily swept by their +fire. But when this entrenchment was thrown up--the chalky earth and +flints probably carried up in osier-baskets, for they do not seem to +have had wheelbarrows in those times--every single yard of rampart +required its spear or threatening arrow, so as to present an unbroken +rank along the summit. If not; the enemy approaching to close quarters +and attacking several places at once would find gaps through which they +might pour into the camp. It seems, therefore, evident that these works +once sheltered an army; and, looking at their massive character, it is +difficult to resist the conclusion that they were not temporary trenches +merely, but were permanently garrisoned. + +There is another alternative; they may have been a place of refuge for +the surrounding population in the nameless wars waged between rival +kings. In that case they would, when resorted to, contain a still +larger number of persons; women and children and aged men would be +included, and to these must be added cattle and sheep. Now, reflecting +upon these considerations, and recollecting the remarks previously made +upon the lack of water on these hills, the very curious question arises, +How did such an army, or such a refugee population with cattle and +horses, supply themselves with sufficient water for drinking purposes? +The closest examination of the camp itself fails to yield even a +suggestion for an answer. + +There is not the slightest trace of a well, and it may fairly be +questioned whether a well would have been practicable at that date. For +this bold brow itself stands high enough; but then, in addition, it is +piled on an elevated plateau or table-land, beneath which again is the +level at which springs break out. The wells of the district all +commence on this table-land or plain. A depression, too, is chosen for +the purpose, and their depth is about ninety feet on the average: many +are much deeper. But when to this depth the task of digging right down +through the hill piled up above the plain is added, the difficulty +becomes extreme. + +On walking round the entrenchment at the bottom of the fosse, and +keeping an eye upon the herbage--the best of all guides--one spot may be +noticed where there grows a little of that `rowetty' grass seen in the +damp furrows of the meadows. But there is no sign whatever of a basin +or excavation to catch and contain this slight moisture--slight indeed, +for the earth is as hard and impenetrable here as elsewhere, and this +faint moisture is evidently caused by the rainfall draining down the +slope of the rampart. Looking next outside the works for the source of +such a supply, a spring will be found in a deep coombe, or bottom, about +800 yards--say, half a mile--from the nearest part of the fosse, +reckoning in a straight line. Then, in bringing up water from this +spring, which may be supposed to have been done in skins, a double +ascent had to be made: first up on to the level plateau, here very +narrow, next up the steep down itself. Those only who have had +experience of the immense labour of watering cattle on the hills can +estimate the work this must have been. An idea is obtained of the value +of an elevated position in early warfare, when men for the sake of its +advantage were found willing to submit to such toil. + +That, however, is not all--foraging parties fetching water must have +been liable to be cut off from the main body; there were no cannon then +to cover a sortie, and if the enemy were in sufficient force and took +possession of the spring, they could compel an engagement, or drive the +besieged to surrender rather than endure the tortures of thirst. So +that a study of these English hills--widely different as are the +conditions of time and place--may throw a strong light upon many an +incident of ancient history. There are no traces remaining of any +covered way or hollow dyke leading down the slope in the direction of +the spring; but some such traces do seem to exhibit themselves in two +places--at the rear of the earthwork along the ridge of the hill, and +down the steepest and shortest ascent. The first does not come up to +the entrenchment, being separated by a wide interval; the latter does, +and may possibly have been used as a covered way, though now much +obliterated and too shallow for the purpose. The rampart itself is in +almost perfect preservation; in one spot the soil has slightly slipped, +but form and outline are everywhere distinct. + +In endeavouring, however, for a moment to glance back into the unwritten +past, and to reconstruct the conditions of some fourteen or fifteen +centuries since, it must not be forgotten that the downs may then have +presented a different appearance. There is a tradition lingering still +that they were in the olden times almost covered with wood. I have +tried to fix this tradition--to focus it and give it definite shape; but +like a mist visible from a distance yet unseen when you are actually in +it, it refuses to be grasped. Still, there it is. The old people say +that the king--they have no idea which king--could follow the chase for +some forty miles across these hills, through a succession of copses, +woods, and straggling covers, forming a great forest. To look now from +the top of the rampart over the rolling hills, the idea is difficult to +admit at first. They are apparently bare, huge billowy swells of green, +with wide hollows, cultivated on the lower levels, but open and +unenclosed for mile after mile, almost without hedges, and seemingly +treeless save for the gnarled and stunted hawthorns--apparently a bare +expanse; but more minute acquaintance leads to different conclusions. + +Here, to begin with, on the same ridge as the earthwork and not a +quarter of a mile distant, is a small clump of wind-harassed trees, +growing on the very edge. They are firs and beech, and, though so +thoroughly exposed to furious gales, have attained a fair height even in +that thin soil. Beech and fir, then, can grow here. Away yonder on +another ridge is another such a clump, indistinct from the distance; +though there is a pleasant breeze blowing and their boughs must sway to +it, they appear motionless. With the exception of the poplar, whose +tall top as it slowly bends to the blast describes such an arc as to +make its motion visible afar, the most violent wind fails to enable the +eye to separate the lines of light coming so nearly parallel from the +branches of an elm or an oak, even at a comparatively short distance. +The tree looks perfectly still, though you know it must be vibrating to +the trunk and loosening the earth with the wrench at its anchoring +roots. + +In more than one of the deep coombes there is a row of elms--out of +sight from this post of vantage--whose tops are about level with the +plain, where you may stand on the edge and throw a stone into the rook's +nest facing you. On a lower spur, which juts out into the valley, is a +broad ash wood. Little more than a mile from hence, on the most barren +and wildest part of the down, there yet linger some stunted oaks +interspersed among the ash copses which to this day are called `the +Chace' and are proved by documentary evidence to stand on the site of an +ancient deer forest. A deer forest, too, there is (though seven or +eight miles distant, yet on the same range of hills) to this very day +tenanted by the antlered stag. Such evidence could be multiplied; but +this is enough to establish the fact that for the whole breadth of the +hills to have been covered with wood is well within possibility. + +I may even go further, and say that, if left to itself, it would in a +few generations revert to that condition; for this reason: that when a +clump of trees is planted here, experience has shown that it is not so +much the wind or the soil which hinders their growth as the attacks of +animals wild and tame. Rabbits in cold, frosty weather have a +remarkable taste for the bark of the young ash-saplings: they nibble it +off as clean as if stripped with a knife, of course frequently killing +the plant. Cattle--of which a few wander on the hills--are equally +destructive to the young green shoots or `tops' of many trees. Young +horses especially will bark almost any smooth-barked tree, not to eat, +but as if to relieve their teeth by tearing it off. In the meadows all +the young oaks that spring up from dropped acorns out in the grass are +invariably torn up by cattle and the still closer-cropping sheep. If +the sheep and cattle were removed, and the plough stood still for a +century, ash and beech and oak and hawthorn would reassert themselves, +and these wide, open downs become again a vast forest, as doubtless they +were when the beaver and the marten, the wild boar and the wolf, roamed +over the country. + +This great earthwork, crowning a ridge from whence a view for many miles +could have been obtained over the tops of the primeval trees, must then +have had a strangely different strategical position to what it now +seemingly occupies in the midst of almost treeless hills. Possibly, +too, the powerful effect of so many square miles of vegetation in +condensing vapour may have had a distinct influence upon the rainfall, +and have rendered water more plentiful than now: a consideration which +may help to explain the manner in which these ancient forts were held. + +The general deficiency of moisture characteristic of these chalk hills +is such that it is said agriculture flourishes best upon them in what is +called a `dropping' summer, when there is a shower every two or three +days, the soil absorbing it so quickly. For the grass and hay crops +down below in the vale, and for the arable fields there with a stiff +heavy soil, on the other hand, a certain amount of dry weather is +desirable, else the plough cannot work in its seasons nor the crops +ripen or the harvest be garnered in. So that the old saying was that in +a drought the vale had to feed the hill, and in a wet year the hill had +to feed the vale: which remains true to a considerable extent, so far at +least as the cattle are concerned, and was probably true of men and +their food also before the importation of corn in such immense +quantities placed both alike free from anxiety on that account. This +deficiency of moisture being borne in mind, it is a little curious to +find ponds of water on the very summit of the down. + +Scarcely a quarter of a mile from the earthwork, and on a level with +it--close to the clump of firs and beech alluded to previously--there +may be seen on this warm summer day a broad, circular, pan-like +depression partially filled with water. Being on the very top of the +ridge, and only so far sunk as to hold a sufficient quantity, there is +little or no watershed to drain into the pond; neither is there a spring +or any other apparent source of supply. It would naturally be imagined +that in this exposed position, even if filled to the brim by heavy +storms of rain, a week of sultry sunshine would evaporate it to the last +drop; instead of which, excepting, of course, unusually protracted +spells of dry weather such as only come at lengthy intervals, there will +always be found some water here; even under the blazing sunshine a +shallow pool remains, and in ordinary times the circular basin is half +full. + +It is of quite modern construction, and, except indirectly, has no +bearing upon the water-supply of the earthwork, having been made within +a few years only for the convenience of the stock kept upon the hill +farms. Some special care is taken in puddling the bottom and sides to +prevent leakage, and a layer of soot is usually employed to repel boring +grubs or worms which would otherwise make their holes through and let +the water soak into the thirsty chalk beneath. In wet weather the pond +quickly fills; once full, it is afterwards kept up by the condensation +of the thick, damp mists, the dew and cloud-like vapours, that even in +the early mornings of the hot summer days so frequently cling about the +downs. These more than supply the waste from evaporation, so that the +basin may be called a dew-pond. The mists that hang about the ridges +are often almost as laden with moisture as a rain-cloud itself. They +deposit a thick layer of tiny bead-like drops upon the coat of the +wayfarer, which seem to cling after the manner of oil. Though these +hills have not the faintest pretensions to be compared with mountains, +yet when the rainy clouds hang low they often strike the higher ridges, +which from a distance appear blotted out entirely, and are then +receiving a misty shower. + +Then there rise up sometimes thick masses of vapour which during the +night have gathered over the brooks and water-meadows, the marshy places +of the vale, and now come borne on the breeze rolling along the slopes; +and, as these pass over the dew-pond, doubtless its colder water +condenses that portion which draws down into the depression where it +stands. In winter the vapours clinging about the clumps of beech freeze +to the boughs, forming, not a rime merely, like that seen in the vale, +but a kind of ice-casing, while icicles also depend underneath. Now, if +a wind comes sweeping across the hill with sudden blast, these +glittering appendages rattle together loudly, and there falls a hail of +jagged icy fragments. When one has seen the size and quantity of these, +it becomes more easy to understand the amount of water which an +intangible vapour may carry with it to be condensed into the pond or +congealed upon the tree. + +There is another such a pond half a mile or more from the earthwork in +another direction, but also on a level, making two upon this high and +exposed down. Many others are scattered about--they have become more +numerous of late years. Several are situate on the lower plateau, which +is also dry enough. Toiling over the endless hills in the summer heats, +I have often been driven by necessity of thirst to taste a little of the +water contained in them, though well knowing the inevitable result. The +water has a dead flavour: it is not stagnant in the sense of impurity, +but dead, even when quite clear. In a few moments after tasting it, the +mouth dries, with a harsh unpleasant feeling as if some impalpable dusty +particles had got into the substance of the tongue. This is caused +probably by suspended chalk, of which it tastes; for assuaging thirst, +therefore, it is worse than useless in summer: very different is the +exquisitely limpid cool liquid which bubbles out in the narrow coombes +far below. + +The indirect bearing of the phenomena of these dew-ponds upon the +water-supply of the ancient fort is found in the evidence they supply +that under different conditions the deposit of moisture here might have +been very much larger. The ice formed upon the branches of the beech +trees in winter proves that water is often present in the atmosphere in +large quantities; all it requires is something to precipitate it. +Therefore, if these hills were once clothed with forest, as previously +suggested, it appears possible that the primitive inhabitants, after +all, may have carried on their agriculture with less difficulty, and +have been able to store up water in their camps with greater ease, than +would be the case at present. This may explain the traces of primeval +cultivation to be seen here on the barest bleakest, and most unpromising +hillsides. Such traces may be discovered at intervals all along the +slope, on the summit, and near the foot of the down at the rear of the +entrenchment. + +It is easy to pass almost over them without observing the nearly +obliterated marks--the faint lines left on the surface by the implements +of men in the days when the first Caesar was yet a living memory. These +marks are like some of the little used paths which traverse the hills: +if you look along way in front you can see them tolerably distinctly, +but under your feet they are invisible, the turf being only so slightly +worn by wayfarers. So, to find the signs of ancient fields, look for +them from a distance as you approach along the slope; then you will see +squares and parallelograms dimly defined upon the sward by slightly +raised and narrow banks, green with the grass that has grown over them +for so many centuries. + +They have the appearance sometimes of shallow terraces raised one above +the other, rising with the slope of the down. This terrace formation is +perhaps occasionally artificial; but in some cases, I think, the natural +conformation of the ground has been taken advantage of, having seen +terraces where not the faintest trace of cultivation was visible. It is +not always easy either to distinguish between the genuine enclosures of +ancient days and the trenches left after the decay of comparatively +modern fir-plantations, which it is usual to surround with a low mound +and ditch. Long after the fir trees have died out the green mound +remains; but there are rules by which the two, with a little care, may +be distinguished. + +The ancient field, in the first place, is generally very much smaller; +and there are usually three or four or more in close proximity, divided +by the faint green ridges, sometimes roughly resembling in ground-plan +the squares of a chess-board. The mound that once enclosed a +fir-plantation is much higher, and would be noticed by the most casual +observer. It encircles a wide area, often irregular in shape, oval or +circular, and does not present the regular internal divisions of the +other--which, indeed, would be unnecessary and out of place in a copse. + +It has become the fashion of recent years to break up the sward of the +downs, to pare off the turf and burn it, and scatter the ashes over the +soil newly turned up by the plough; the idea being mainly to keep more +sheep by the aid of turnips and green crops than could be grazed upon +the grass. In places it answers--in many others not; after two or three +crops the yield sometimes falls to next to nothing. There is a ploughed +field here right upon the ridge of the down, close to the ancient +earthwork, where in dry summers I have seen ripening oats barely a foot +high, and barley equally short. With all the resources of modern +agriculture, artificial manure, deeper ploughing, and more complete +cleaning, such results do not seem altogether commensurate with the +labour bestowed. Of course it is not always so, else the enterprise +would be at once abandoned. But when I come to think of the ancient +tillage in the terraces upon the barren slopes, I find it difficult to +see how, with their rude implements, the men of those times could have +procured any sustenance from their soil, unless I suppose the conditions +different. + +If there was forest all around, to condense the vapours rolling over and +deposit a heavy dew or grateful rainfall, then they may have found the +stubborn earth more fruitful. Trees and brakes, and thickets, too, +would give shelter and protect the rising growth from the bitter winds; +while when first tilled the soil itself would be rich from the decay of +accumulated leaves, dead boughs, and vegetable matter. So that the +terrace gardens may have yielded plentifully then, and were probably +surrounded with stockades to protect them from the ravages of the beasts +of the forest. Now the very site of the ancient town can scarcely be +distinguished: the sheep graze, the lambs gambol gaily over it in the +sunshine, and the shepherd dozes hard by on the slope while his dog +watches the flock. + +A long day of rain is often followed by a moderately fine evening--the +clouds breaking up as the sun nears the horizon. It happened one summer +evening, after just such a day of continuous showers, that I was in a +meadow about two miles distant from the hills. The rain had ceased, and +the sky was clear overhead of all but a thin film of cloud, through +which the blue was visible in places. But westward there was still a +bank of vapour concealing the sinking sun; and eastwards, towards the +downs, it was also thick and dark. I walked slowly along with a gun, on +the inner side of a great hedge which hid the hills, waiting every now +and then behind a projecting bush for a rabbit to come out--a couple +being wanted. In heavy rain, such as had lasted all day, they generally +remain within their `buries'--or if one slips out, he usually keeps on +the bank, sheltered by stoles and trees, and nibbling a little of the +grass that grows there and is comparatively dry. But as evening +approaches and the rain ceases, they naturally come forth to break a +long fast, and may then be shot. + +Some little time passed thus, when, in sauntering along, I came to a gap +in the hedge, and glanced through it in the direction of the downs, +there partly visible. The idea at once occurred to me that the part of +the hills seen through the gap was remarkably high--very much higher and +more mountainous than any I had ever visited; and actually, in the +abstraction of the moment, half-intent on the rabbits and half perhaps +thinking of other things, I resolved to explore that section more +thoroughly. Yet, after walking a few yards further, somehow it seemed +singular that the great elevation of this down should never previously +have been so apparent. In short, growing curious in the matter, I +returned to the gap and looked again. + +There was no mistake: there was the down rising up against the sky--a +huge dusky mountainous hill, exactly the same in outline as I remembered +it, quite familiar, and yet entirely strange. There was the old barn +near the foot of the slope; above it the black line of a low hedge and +mound; on the summit the same old clump of trees; and lastly, a tall +column of black smoke rising upwards, as if from a steam plough at work. +It was all just the same, but lifted up into the air--the hill grown +into a mountain. A second and longer gaze failed to discover the +explanation of the apparition: the eye was completely deceived, and yet +the mind was not satisfied. But upon getting up into the gap of the +hedge, so as to obtain a better view from the mound, the cause of the +illusion was at once visible. + +Looking through the gap was like looking through a narrow window, only a +short section of the hill being within sight; from the elevation of the +mound the whole range of hills could be seen at the same time. Then it +became immediately apparent that on either side of this great mountain +the continuation of the down right and left remained still at its former +level. Upon the central hill a cloud was resting, and had for the time +taken its exact shape. The ridge itself was dark, and the dark grey +vapour harmonised precisely with its hue; so that the real hill and the +cloud merged into each other. Either the barn and clump of trees were +reproduced or perhaps enlarged and distorted by the refraction: the +seeming column of smoke was a fragment of a blacker colour which chanced +to be in a nearly perpendicular position. Even when recognised as such, +the illusion was still perfect; nor could the eye separate the hill from +the unsubstantial vapour. + +As I watched it, the apparent column of smoke bent, and its upper part +floated away, enlarging just as smoke, its upward motion overcome by the +wind, slowly yields to the current. Soon afterwards the light breeze +stretched out one end of the mass of cloud, began to roll up the other, +and presently lifted it, revealing the real ridge beneath, which grew +momentarily more distinctly defined. Finally, the misty bank hung +suspended over the down, and slowly sailed eastwards with the wind. +Some time afterwards I saw a similar mirage-like enlargement of the down +by cloudy vapour resting on it and assuming its contour; but the +illusion was not so perfect, because seen from a more open spot, +allowing an extended view of the range, and because the cloud was +lighter in colour than the hill to which it clung. + +These clouds were, of course, passing at a very low elevation above the +earth: in rainy weather, although but a few hundred feet high, the +ridges are frequently obscured with cloud. The old folk in the vale, +whose whole lives have been spent watching and waiting on the weather, +say that the hills `draw' the thunder--that wherever a storm arises it +always `draws' towards them. If it comes from the west it often +splits--one storm going along the ridges to the south, and the other +passing over detached hills to the northward; so that the basin between +is rarely visited by thunder overhead. They have, too, an old +superstition--based apparently, on a text of the Bible--that the thunder +always rises originally in the north, though it may reach them from a +different direction. For it is their belief also that thunder `works +round;' so that after a heavy storm, say in the afternoon, when the air +has cleared to all appearance, they will tell you that the sunshine and +calm are a deception. In a few hours' time, or in the course of the +night, the storm will return, having `worked round:' and indeed in that +locality this is very often the case. It is to be observed that even a +small copse will for a short distance in its rear quite divert the +course of a breeze; so that a weathercock placed on the leeside is +entirely untrustworthy: if the wind really blows from the south and over +the copse, the weathercock will sometimes point in precisely the +opposite direction, obeying the `undertow' of the gale, as it were, +drawing backwards. + +In summer especially, I fancy, an effect is sometimes produced by a +variation in the electrical condition of comparatively small areas, +corresponding perhaps with the difference of soil--one becoming more +heated than another. Showers are certainly often of a remarkably local +character: a walk of half a mile along a road dark from recent rain will +frequently bring you to a place where the dust is white and thick as +ever, the line of demarcation sharply marked across the highway. In +winter rain takes a wider sweep. + +From the elevation of the earthwork on the downs--with a view of mile +after mile of plain and vale below--it is easy on a showery summer day +to observe the narrow limits of the rain. Dusky streamers, like the +train of a vast dark robe, slope downwards from the blacker +water-carrying cloud above--downwards and backwards, the upper cloud +travelling faster than the falling drops. Between the hill and the rain +yonder intervenes a broad space of several miles, and beyond it again +stretches a clear opening to the horizon. The streamers sweep along a +narrow strip of country which is drenched with rain, while on either +side the sun is shining. + +It seems reasonable to imagine that in some way that strip of country +acts differently for the time being upon the atmosphere immediately +above it. So singularly local are these conditions, sometimes, that one +farmer will show you a flourishing crop of roots which was refreshed by +a heavy shower just in the nick of time, while his neighbour is loudly +complaining that he has had no rain. When the sky is overcast--large +masses of cloud, with occasional breaks, passing slowly across it at a +considerable elevation without rain--sometimes through these narrow +slits long beams of light fall aslant upon the distant fields of the +vale. They resemble, only on a greatly lengthened scales the beams that +may be seen in churches of a sunny afternoon, falling from the upper +windows on the tiled floor of the chancel, and made visible by motes in +the air. So through such slits in the cloudy roof of the sky the rays +of the sun shoot downwards, made visible on their passage by the +moisture or the motes floating in the atmosphere. They seem to linger +in their place as the clouds drift with scarcely perceptible motion; and +the labourers say that the sun is sucking up water there. + +In the evening of a fine day the mists may be seen from hence as they +rise in the meadows far beneath: beginning first over the brooks, a long +white winding vapour marking their course, next extending over the moist +places and hollows. Higher in the air darker bars of mist, separate and +distinct from the white sheet beneath them, perhaps a hundred feet above +it, gradually come into sight as they grow thicker and blacker, one here +one yonder--long and narrow in shape. These seem to approach more +nearly in character to the true cloud than the mist which hardly rises +higher than the hedges. The latter will sometimes move or draw across +the meadows when there is no apparent wind, not sufficient to sway a +leaf, as if in obedience to light and partial currents created by a +variation of temperature in different parts of the same field. + +Once now and then, looking at this range of hills from a distance of two +or three miles on moonless nights, when it has been sufficiently clear +to distinguish them, I have noticed that the particular down on which +the earthwork is situate shows more distinctly than the others. By day +no difference is apparent; but sometimes by night it seems slightly +lighter in hue, and stands out more plainly. This may perhaps be due to +some unobserved characteristic of the herbage on its slope, or possibly +to the chalky subsoil coming there nearer to the surface. The power of +reflecting light possessed by the earth, and varied by different soils +or by vegetation, is worth observation. + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +THE HILLSIDE HEDGE: ITS BIRDS AND FLOWERS--A GREEN TRACK--THE +SPRING-HEAD. + +A low thick hawthorn hedge runs along some distance below the earthwork +just at the foot of the steepest part of the hill. It divides the +greensward of the down from the ploughed land of the plain, which +stretches two or three miles wide, across to another range opposite. A +few stunted ash trees grow at intervals among the bushes, which are the +favourite resort of finches and birds that feed upon the seeds and +insects they find in the cultivated fields. Most of these cornfields +being separated only by a shallow trench and a bank bare of underwood, +the birds naturally flock to the few hedges they can find. So that, +although but low and small in comparison with the copse-like hedges of +the vale, the hawthorn here is often alive with birds: chaffinches and +sparrows perhaps in the greatest numbers, also yellowhammers. + +The colour of the yellowhammer appears brighter in spring and early +summer: the bird is aglow with a beautiful and brilliant yet soft +yellow, pleasantly shaded with brown. He perches on the upper boughs of +the hawthorn or on a rail, coming up from the corn as if to look around +him--for he feeds chiefly on the ground--and uttering two or three short +notes. His plumage gives a life and tint to the hedge, contrasting so +brightly with the vegetation and with other birds. His song is but a +few bars repeated, yet it has a pleasing and soothing effect in the +drowsy warmth of summer. Yellowhammers haunt the cornfields +principally, though they are not absent from the meadows. + +To this hedge the hill-magpie comes: some magpies seem to keep almost +entirely to the downs, while others range the vale, though there is no +apparent difference between them. His peculiar uneven and, so to say, +flickering flight, marks him at a distance as he jauntily journeys along +beside the slope. He visits every fir copse and beech clump on his way, +spending some time, too, in and about the hawthorn hedge, which is a +favourite spot. Sometimes in the spring, while the corn is yet short +and green, if you glance carefully through an opening in the bushes or +round the side of the gateway, you may see him busy on the ground. His +restless excitable nature betrays itself in every motion: he walks now +to the right a couple of yards, now to the left in a quick zigzag, so +working across the field towards you; then with a long rush he makes a +lengthy traverse at the top of his speed, turns and darts away again at +right angles, and presently up goes his tail and he throws his head down +with a jerk of the whole body as if he would thrust his beak deep into +the earth. This habit of searching the field apparently for some +favourite grub is evidence in his favour that he is not so entirely +guilty as he has been represented of innocent blood: no bird could be +approached in that way. All is done in a jerky, nervous manner. As he +turns sideways the white feathers show with a flash above the green +corn; another movement, and he looks all black. + +It is more difficult to get near the larger birds upon the downs than in +the meadows, because of the absence of cover; the hedge here is so low, +and the gateway open and bare, without the overhanging oak of the +meadows, whose sweeping boughs snatch and retain wisps of the hay from +the top of a waggon-load as it passes under. The gate itself is +dilapidated--perhaps only a rail, or a couple of `flakes' fastened +together with tar-cord: there are no cattle here to require strong +fences. + +In the young beans yonder the wood-pigeons are busy--too busy for the +farmer; they have a habit as they rise and hover about their +feeding-places, of suddenly shooting up into the air, and as suddenly +sinking again to the level of their course, describing a line roughly +resembling the outline of a tent if drawn on paper, a cone whose sides +droop inward somewhat. They do this too, over the ash woods where they +breed, or the fir trees; it is not done when they are travelling +straight ahead on a journey. + +The odour of the bean-flower lingering on the air in the early summer is +delicious; in autumn when cut the stalk and pods are nearly black, so +that the shocks on the side of the hills show at a great distance. The +sward, where the slope of the down becomes almost level beside the +hedge, is short and sweet and thickly strewn with tiny flowers, to which +and to the clover the bees come, settling, as it were, on the ground, so +that as you walk you nearly step on them, and they rise from under the +foot with a shrill, angry buzz. + +On the other side the plough has left a narrow strip of green running +along the hedge: the horses, requiring some space in which to turn at +the end of each furrow, could not draw the share any nearer, and on +this narrow strip the weeds and wild flowers flourish. The +light-sulphur-coloured charlock is scattered everywhere--out among the +corn, too, for no cleaning seems capable of eradicating this plant; the +seeds will linger in the earth and retain their germinating power for a +length of time, till the plough brings them near enough to the surface, +when they are sure to shoot up unless the pigeons find them. Here also +may be found the wild garlic, which sometimes gets among the wheat and +lends an onion-like flavour to the bread. It grows, too, on the edge of +the low chalky banks overhanging the narrow waggon-track, whose ruts are +deep in the rubble--worn so in winter. + +Such places, close to cultivated land yet undisturbed, are the best in +which to look for wild flowers; and on the narrow strip beside the hedge +and on the crumbling rubble bank of the rough track may be found a +greater variety than by searching the broad acres beyond. In the season +the large white bell-like flowers of the convolvulus will climb over the +hawthorn, and the lesser striped kind will creep along the ground. The +pink pimpernel hides on the very verge of the corn, which presently will +be strewn with the beautiful `blue-bottle' flower, than whose exquisite +hue there is nothing more lovely in our fields. The great scarlet poppy +with the black centre, and `eggs and butter'--curious name for a +flower--will, of course, be there: the latter often flourishes on a high +elevation, on the very ridges, provided only the plough has been near. + +At irregular intervals along the slope there are deep hollows--shallow +near the summit, deepening and widening as they sink, till by the hedge +at the foot they broaden out into a little valley in themselves. These +great green grooves furrow the sides of the downs everywhere, and for +that reason it is best to walk either on the ridge or in the plain at +the bottom: if you follow the slope half-way up you are continually +descending and ascending the steep sides of these gullys, which adds +much to the fatigue. At the mouths of the hollows, close to the hedge, +the great flint stones and lumps of chalky rubble rolling down from +above one by one in the passage of the years have accumulated: so that +the turf there is almost hidden as by a stony cascade. + +On the ridge here is a thicket of furze, grown shrub-like and strong, +being untouched by woodman's tool; here the rabbits have their `buries,' +and be careful how you thread your way between the bushes, for the +ground is undermined with innumerable flint-pits long abandoned. This +is the favourite resort of the chats, who perch on the furze or on the +heaps of flints, perpetually iterating their one note, from which their +name seems taken. Within the enclosure of the old earthwork itself the +flint-diggers have been at work: they occasionally find a few fragments +of rusty metal, doubtless relics of ancient weapons; but little worth +preserving is ever found there. Such treasures are much more frequently +discovered in the cornfields of the plain immediately beneath than here +in the camp where one would naturally look for them. + +The labourers who pick up these things often put an immensely +exaggerated value on them: a worn Roman coin of the commonest kind, of +which hundreds are in existence, they imagine to be worth a week's wages +till after refusing its real value from a collector they finally visit a +watchmaker whose aquafortis test proves the supposed gold to be brass. +So, too, with fossils: a man brought me a common echinus, and expected a +couple of `crownds' at least for it; nothing could convince him that, +although not often found just in that district, in others they were +numerous. The `crownd' is still the unit, the favourite coin of the +labourers, especially the elder folk. They use the word something in +the same sense as the dollar, and look with regret upon the gradual +disappearance of the broad silver disc with the figure of `Saint Gaarge' +conquering the dragon. + +Everywhere across the hills traces of the old rabbit-warrens may be +found in the names of places. Warren Farms, Warren Houses, etc, are +common; and the term is often added to the names of the villages to +distinguish an outlying part of the parish. From the earthwork the +sites of four such warrens, now cultivated, can be seen within the +radius of as many miles. Rabbits must have swarmed on the downs in the +olden times. In the season when the couch and weeds are collected in +heaps and burned, the downs--were it not for the silence--might seem the +scene of a mighty conflict the smoke of the battle rolling along the +slopes and hanging over the plains, rising up from the hollows in dusky +clouds. But the cannon of the shadowy army give forth no thunderous +roar. These smouldering fires are not, of course, peculiar to the +hills, but the smoke shows so much more at that elevation. + +At evening, if you watch the sunset from the top of the rampart, as the +red disc sinks to the horizon and the shadows lengthen--the trees below +and the old barn throwing their shadows up the slope--the eye is +deceived by the position of the light and the hill seems much higher and +steeper, looking down from the summit, than it does at noonday. It is +an optical delusion. Here on the western side the grass is still dry-- +in the deep narrow valleys behind the sun set long since over the +earthwork and ridge, and the dew is already gathering thickly on the +sward. + +A broad green track runs for many a long, long mile across the downs, +now following the ridges, now winding past at the foot of a grassy +slope, then stretching away through cornfield and fallow. It is +distinct from the waggon-tracks which cross it here and there, for these +are local only, and if traced up land the wayfarer presently in a maze +of fields, or end abruptly in the rickyard of a lone farmhouse. It is +distinct from the hard roads of modern construction which also at wide +intervals cross its course, dusty and glaringly white in the sunshine. +It is not a farm track--you may walk for twenty miles along it over the +hills; neither is it the king's highway. + +For seven long miles in one direction there is not so much as a wayside +tavern; then the traveller finds a little cottage, with a bench under a +shady sycamore and a trough for a thirsty horse, situate where three +such modern roads (also lonely enough) cross the old green track. Far +apart, and far away from its course hidden among their ricks and trees a +few farmsteads stand, and near them perhaps a shepherd's cottage: +otherwise it is an utter solitude, a vast desert of hill and plain; +silent too, save for the tinkle of a sheep bell, or, in the autumn, the +moaning hum of a distant threshing machine rising and falling on the +wind. + +The origin of the track goes back into the dimmest antiquity; there is +evidence that it was a military road when the fierce Dane carried fire +and slaughter inland, leaving his `nailed bark' in the creeks of the +rivers, and before that when the Saxons pushed up from the sea. The +eagles of old Rome, perhaps, were borne along it, and yet earlier the +chariots of the Britons may have used it--traces of all have been found; +so that for fifteen centuries this track of the primitive peoples has +maintained its existence through the strange changes of the times, till +now in the season the cumbrous steam-ploughing engines jolt and strain +and pant over the uneven turf. + +To-day, entering the ancient way, eight miles or so from the great +earthwork, hitherto the central post of observation, I turn my face once +more towards its distant rampart, just visible, showing over the hills a +line drawn against the sky. Here, whence I start, is another such a +camp, with mound and fosse; beyond the one I have more closely described +some four miles is still a third, all connected by the same green track +running along the ridges of the downs and entirely independent of the +roads of modern days. They form a chain of forts on the edge of the +down-land overlooking the vale. At starting the track is but just +distinguishable from the general sward of the hill: the ruts are +overgrown with grass--but the tough `tussocky' kind, in which the hares +hide, avoids the path, and by its edge marks the way. Soon the ground +sinks, and then the cornfields approach, extending on either hand-- +barley, already bending under the weight of the awn, swaying with every +gentle breath of air, stronger oats and wheat, broad squares of swede +and turnip and dark-green mangold. + +Plough and harrow press hard on the ancient track, and yet dare not +encroach upon it. With varying width, from twenty to fifty yards, it +runs like a green riband through the sea of corn--a width that allows a +flock of sheep to travel easily side by side, spread abroad, and snatch +a bite as they pass. Dry, shallow trenches full of weeds, and low +narrow mounds, green also, divide it from the arable land; and on these +now and then grow storm-stunted hawthorn bushes, gnarled and aged. On +the banks the wild thyme grows in great bunches, emitting an exquisite +fragrance--luxurious cushions these to rest upon beneath the shade of +the hawthorn, listening to the gentle rustle of the wheat as the wind +rushes over it. Away yonder the shadows of the clouds come over the +ridge, and glide with seeming sudden increase of speed down-hill, then +along the surface of the corn, darkening it as they pass, with a bright +band of light following swiftly behind. It is gone, and the beech copse +away there is blackened for a moment as the shadow leaps it. On the +smooth bark of those beeches the shepherd lads have cut their names with +their great clasp-knives. + +Sometimes in the evening, later on, when the wheat is nearly ripe, such +a shepherd lad will sit under the trees there; and as you pass along the +track comes the mellow note of his wooden whistle, from which poor +instrument he draws a sweet sound. There is no tune--no recognisable +melody: he plays from his heart and to himself. In a room doubtless it +would seem harsh and discordant; but there, the player unseen, his +simple notes harmonise with the open plain, the looming hills, the ruddy +sunset as if striving to express the feelings these call forth. + +Resting thus on the wild thyme under the hawthorn, partly hidden and +quite silent, we may see stealing out from the corn into the fallow hard +by first one, then two, then half a dozen or more young partridge +chicks. With them is the anxious mother, watching the sky chiefly, lest +a hawk be hovering about; nor will she lead them far from the cover of +the wheat. She stretches her neck up to listen and look: then, +reassured, walks on, her head nodding as she moves. The little ones +crowd after, one darting this way, another that, learning their lesson +of life--how and where to find the most suitable food, how to hide from +the enemy: imitation of the parent developing hereditary inclinations. + +At the slightest unwonted sound or movement, she first stretches her +neck up for a hurried glance, then, as the labouring folk say, `quats'-- +i.e. crouches down--and in a second or two runs swiftly to cover, using +every little hollow of the ground skilfully for concealment on the way, +like a practised skirmisher. The ants' nests, which are so attractive +to partridges, are found in great numbers along the edge of the +cornfields, being usually made on ground that is seldom disturbed. The +low mounds that border the green track are populous with ants, whose +nests are scattered thickly on these banks, as also beside the paths and +waggon-tracks that traverse the fields and are not torn up by the +plough. Any beaten track such as this old path, however green, is +generally free from them on its surface: ants avoid placing their nests +where they may be trampled upon. This may often be noticed in gardens: +there are nests at and under the edge of the paths, but none where +people walk. It is these nests in the banks and mounds which draw the +partridges so frequently from the middle of the fields to the edges +where they can be seen; they will come even to the banks of frequented +roads for the eggs of which they are so fond. + +Now that their courting-time is over, the larks do not sing so +continuously. Later on, when the ears of wheat are ripe and the reapers +are sharpening their sickles, if you walk here, with the corn on either +hand, every ten or twenty yards a cloud of sparrows and small birds will +rise from it, literally hiding the hawthorn bush on which they settle, +so that the green tree looks brown. Wait a little while, and with +defiant chirps back they go, disappearing in the wheat. + +The sparrows will sometimes flutter at the top of the stalk, hovering +for a few moments in one spot as if trying to perch on the ears; then, +grasping one with their claws, they sink with it and bear it to the +ground, where they can revel at their leisure. A place where a +hailstorm or heavy rain has beat down and levelled the tall corn flat is +the favourite spot for these birds; they rise from it in hundreds at a +time. But some of the finches are probably searching for the ripe seeds +of the weeds that spring up among the corn; they find also a feast of +insects. + +Leaving now the gnarled hawthorn and the cushion of thyme, I pass a +deserted sheep-pen, where in the early year the tender lambs were +sheltered from the snow and wind. Mile after mile, and still no sign of +human life--everywhere silence, solitude. Hill after hill and plain +after plain. Presently the turf is succeeded by a hard road--flints +ground down into dust by broad waggon-wheels bearing huge towering loads +of wool or heavy wheat. Just here the old track happens to answer the +purposes of modern civilisation. Fast this, and again it reverts to +turf, leaving now the hills for a mile or two to cross a plain lying +between a semicircle of downs; and here at last are hedges of hawthorn +and hazel and stunted crab tree. + +Round black marks upon the turf, with grey ashes scattered about and +half-consumed sticks, show where the gipsies have recently bivouacked, +sheltered somewhat at night by the hedges. Near by is an ancient +tumulus, on which grows a small yet obviously aged sycamore tree, +stunted by wind and storm, and under it the holes of rabbits--drilling +their habitations into the tomb of the unknown warrior. In his day, +perhaps, the green track wound through a pathless wood long since +cleared. Soon the hedges all but disappear, the ground rises once more, +nearing the hills; and here the way widens out--first fifty, then a +hundred yards across--green sward dotted with furze and some brake fern, +and bunches of tough dry grass. Above on the summit is another ancient +camp, and below two more turf-grown tumuli, low and shaped like an +inverted bowl. Many more have been ploughed down, doubtless, in the +course of the years: sometimes still, as the share travels through the +soil there is a sudden jerk, and a scraping sound of iron against stone. + +The ploughman eagerly tears away the earth, and moves the stone to find +a thin jar, as he thinks--in fact, a funeral urn. Like all uneducated +people, in the far East as well as in the West, he is imbued with the +idea of finding hidden treasure, and breaks the urn in pieces to +discover--nothing; it is empty. He will carry the fragments home to the +farm, when, after a moment's curiosity, they will be thrown aside with +potsherds, and finally used to mend the floor of the cowpen. The track +winds away yet further, over hill after hill; but a summer's day is not +long enough to trace it to the end. + +In the narrow valley, far below the frowning ramparts of the ancient +fort that has been more specially described, a beautiful spring breaks +forth. Three irregularly circular green spots, brighter in colour than +the dry herbage around, mark the outlets of the crevices in the earth +through which the clear water finds its way to the surface. Three tiny +threads of water, each accompanied by its riband of verdant grasses, +meander downwards some few yards, and then unite and form a little +stream. Then the water in its channel first becomes visible, glistening +in the sun; for at the sources the aquatic grasses bend over, growing +thickly, and hide it from view. But pressing these down, and parting +them with the hand, you may trace the exact place where it rises, gently +oozing forth without a sound. + +Lower down, where the streamlet is stronger and has worn a groove--now +rushing over a floor of tiny flints, now partly buoyed up and chafing +against a smooth round lump of rubble--there is a pleasant murmur +audible at a short distance. Still farther from the source, where, +grown wider, the shallow water shoots swiftly over a steeper gradient, +the undulations of its surface cross each other, plaiting a pattern like +four strands interwoven. The resemblance to the pattern of four rushes +which the country children delight to plait together as they wander by +the brooks is so close as almost to suggest the derivation of the art of +weaving rushes, flags, and willows by the hand. The sheep grazing at +will in the coombe eat off the herbage too closely to permit of many +flowers. Where the springs join and irrigate a broader strip there +grows a little watercress, and some brooklime, said to be poisonous and +occasionally mistaken for the cress; a stray cuckoo-flower shows its +pale lilac petals in spring, and a few bunches of rushes are scattered +round. They do not reach any height or size; they seem dry and sapless, +totally unlike the tall green succulent rush of the meadows far below. + +A water-wagtail comes now and then; sometimes the yellow variety, whose +colour in the spring is so bright as to cause the bird to resemble the +yellowhammer at the first glance. But besides these the spring-head is +not much-frequented by birds; perhaps the clear water attracts less +visible insect life, and, the shore of the stream being hard and dry, +there is no moisture where grubs and worms may work their way. Behind +the fountain the steep green wall of the coombe rises almost +perpendicularly--so steep as not to be climbed without exertion. At the +summit are the cornfields of the level plain which here so suddenly +sinks without warning. The plough has been drawn along all but on the +very edge, and the tall wheat nods at the verge. From thence a strong +arm might send a flat round stone skimming across to the other side of +the narrow hollow, and its winding course is apparent. + +Like a deep groove it cuts a channel up towards the hills, becoming +narrower as it approaches; and the sides diminish in height, till at the +neck a few rails and a gate can close it, being scarcely broader than a +waggon-track. There, at the foot of the down, it ends, overlooked by a +barn, the home of innumerable sparrows, whose nests are made under the +eaves, everywhere their keen eyes can find an aperture large enough to +squeeze into. + +Looking down the steep side of the coombe, near the bottom there runs +along a projecting ledge, or terrace, like a natural footway. On the +opposite side is another corresponding ledge, or green turf-covered +terrace; these follow the windings of the valley, decreasing in width as +it diminishes, and gradually disappearing. In its broadest part one of +them is used as a waggon-track, for which it is admirably adapted, being +firm and hard, even smoother than the bottom of the coombe itself. If +it were possible to imagine the waters of a tidal river rising and +ebbing up and down this hollow these ledges would form its banks. Their +regular shape is certainly remarkable, and they are not confined to this +one place. Such steep-sided narrow hollows are found all along the edge +of this range of downs, where they slope to the larger valley which +stretches out to the horizon. There are at least ten of them in a space +of twelve miles, many having similar springs of water and similar +terrace-like ledges, more or less perfect. Towards the other extremity +of this particular coombe--where it widens before opening on the +valley--the spring spreads and occupies a wider channel, beside which +there is a strip of osier-bed. + +When at the fountain-head, and looking down the current the end of the +coombe westwards away from the hills seems to open to the sky; for the +ground falls rapidly, and the trees hide any trace of human habitation. +The silent hills close in the rear, capped by the old fort; the silent +cornfields come to the very edge above; the silent steep green walls +rise on either hand, so near together that the swallows in the blue +atmosphere high overhead only come into sight for a second as they shoot +swiftly across. In the evening the red sun, enlarged and bulging as if +partly flattened, hangs suspended, as it seems, at the very mouth of the +trough-like hollow. It is natural in the silence and the solitude for +thoughts of the lapse of time to arise--of the endless centuries since, +by some slow geological process, this hollow was formed. Fifteen +hundred years ago the men of the camp above came hither to draw water; +still the spring oozes and flows, and the sun sinks at the western +mouth. So too, doubtless, the sun shone into the hollow in the evening +cycle upon cycle ere then. + +Up the blade of grass here a tiny white-shelled snail has crawled, +feeling in its dull, dim way that evening is approaching. The coils of +the little shell are exquisitely turned--the workmanship is perfect; the +creature within, there can be no question, is equally perfect in its way +and finds a joy in the plants on which it feeds. On the ground below, +hidden among the fibres near the roots of the grass, lies another tiny +shell; but it is empty, the life that once animated it has fled-- +whither? Presently the falling dew will condense upon it, and at the +opening one round drop will stand; after awhile to add its mite to the +ceaseless flow of the fountain. Could any system of notation ever +express the number of these creatures that have existed in the past? If +time is measured by the duration of life, reckoned by their short spans +eternity upon eternity has gone by. To me the greatest marvel is the +countless, the infinite number of the organisms that have existed, each +with its senses and feelings, whose bodies now help to build up the +solid crust of the earth. These tiny shells have had millions of +ancestors: Nature seems never weary of repeating the same model. + +In the osier-bed the brook-sparrow chatters; there, too, the first +pollard willow stands, or rather leans, hollow and aged, across the +water. This tree is the outpost of a thousand others that line the +banks of the stream for mile after mile yonder down in the valley. How +quickly this little fountain grows into a streamlet and then to a +considerable brook!--without apparently receiving the waters of any +feeders. In the first half-mile it swells sufficiently, if bayed up +properly, to drive a mill--as, indeed, many of the springs issuing from +these coombes do just below the mouth. In little more than a mile, +measuring by its windings, it becomes broad enough to require some +effort to leap it, and then deepens into a fair-sized brook. + +The rapidity of the increase is accounted for by the fact that every +field it passes whose surface inclines towards it is a watershed from +which an unseen but considerable drainage takes place. When no brook +passes through the fields the water stands and soaks downwards, or +evaporates slowly: directly a ditch is opened it fills, and the effect +of a stream is not only to collect water till then unseen, but to +preserve it from evaporation or disappearance into the subsoil. +Probably, if it were possible to start an artificial stream in many +places, after a while it would almost keep itself going at times, +provided, of course, that the bottom was not porous. Below the mouth of +the coombe the water has worn itself a channel quite six feet deep in +the chalk--washing out the flints that now lie at the bottom. Hawthorn +bushes bend over it, and great briars uncut since their first shoot was +put forth; the elder, too, grows luxuriously, whose white flowers, +emitting a rich but sickly odour, the village girls still gather to make +elder-water to remove freckles. These bushes hide the deep gully in +which the current winds its way--so deep that no cattle can get down to +drink. + +A cottage stands on the very edge a little further along; the residents +do not dip their water from the running stream, but have made a small +pool beside it, with which no doubt it communicates, for the pool, or +`dipping-place,' is ever full of cool, clear, limpid water. The plan is +not without its advantages, because the stream itself, though usually +clear, is liable to become foul from various causes--such as a flood, +when it is white from suspended chalk, or from cattle higher up above +the gully coming to slake their thirst and stirring the sandy grit of +the bottom. But the little pool long remains clear, because the water +from the stream to enter it has to strain itself through the narrow +partition of chalky rubble. + +So limpid is the current in general, that the idea of seeing trout +presently when it shall widen out naturally arises. But before then the +soil changes, and clay and loam spoil the clean, sandy, or gravelly +bottom trout delight in. In one such stream hard by, however, the +experiment of keeping trout has been tried, and with some success: it +could be done without a doubt if it were not that after a short course +all the streams upon this side of the downs enter the meadows, and +immediately run over a mud bottom. With care, a few young fish were +maintained in the upper waters, but it was only as an experiment; left +to themselves they would speedily disappear, and of course no angling +could be thought of. + +On the opposite side of the range of hills, where they decline in height +somewhat, but still roll on for a great distance, the contrary is the +case. The springs that run in that direction pass over a soil that +gives a good clear bottom, and gradually assume the character of rivers; +narrow, indeed, and shallow, but clear, sweet, and beautiful. There, as +you wander over the down, and push your way through one of those +extensive nutwoods which grow on the hills, acres and acres of hazel +bushes, suddenly you come to the edge of a steep cliff, falling all but +perpendicularly, and lo! at the foot is a winding river, bordered by +broad green meads dotted with roan-and-white cattle. + +Here in the season the angler may be seen skilfully tempting the +speckled trout. Across the meads a grove of elm and oak, and the dull +red of old houses dimly seen between, and the low dark crenellated tower +of a village church. Behind the downs rise again, their slopes in +spring a mass of colour--green corn, squares of bright yellow mustard, +bright crimson trifolium, and brown fallows. + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE VILLAGE--THE WASHPOOL--VILLAGE INDUSTRIES--THE BELFRY--JACKDAWS-- +VILLAGE CHRONICLES. + +A short distance below the cottagers' `dipping-place' just mentioned, +the same stream, leaving the deep groove or gully, widens suddenly into +a large clear pool, shaded by two tall fir trees and an equally tall +poplar. The tops of these trees are nearly level with the plain above +the verdant valley in which the stream flows, and, being side by side, +the difference in the manner of their growth is strongly contrasted. +The branches of the fir gracefully depend, as if weighted downwards by +the burden of the heavy deep green fringe they carry--a fringe tipped +with bullion in the spring, for the young shoots are of so light a green +as to shade into a pale yellow. The branches of the poplar, on the +contrary, point upwards--growing nearly vertically; so that the outline +of the tree resembles the tip of an immensely exaggerated artist's +brush. This formation is ill adapted for nest-building, as it affords +little or no surface to build on, and so the poplar is but seldom used +by birds. + +The pool beneath is approached by a broad track--it cannot be called +road--trampled into innumerable small holes by the feet of flocks of +sheep, driven down here from the hills for the periodical washing. At +that time the roads are full of sheep day after day, all tending in the +same direction; and the little wayside inns, and those of the village +which closely adjoins the washpool, find a sudden increase of custom +from the shepherds. There is no written law regulating the washing, but +custom has fixed it as firmly as an Act of Parliament: each shepherd +knows his day, and takes his turn, and no one attempts to interfere with +the monopoly of the men who throw the sheep in. The right of wash here +is upheld as sternly as if it were a bulwark of the Constitution. + +Sometimes a landowner or a farmer, anxious to make improvements, tries +to enclose the approach or to utilise the water in fertilising meadows, +or in one way or another to introduce an innovation. He thinks perhaps +that education, the spread of modern ideas, and the fact that labourers +travel nowadays, have weakened the influence of tradition. He finds +himself entirely mistaken: the men assemble and throw down the fence, or +fill up the new channel that has been dug; and, the general sympathy of +the parish being with them and the interest of the sheep-farmers behind +them to back them up, they always carry the day, and old custom rules +supreme. + +The sheep greatly dislike water. The difficulty is to get them in; +after the dip they get out fast enough. Only if driven by a strange +dog, and unable to escape on account of a wall or enclosure, will they +ever rush into a pond. If a sheep gets into a brook and cannot get +out--his narrow feet sink deep into the mud--should he not be speedily +relieved he will die, even though his head be above water, from chill +and fright. Cattle, on the other hand, love to stand in water on a warm +day. + +In rubbing together and struggling with the shepherds and their +assistants a good deal of wool is torn from the sheep and floats down +the current. This is caught by a net stretched across below, and +finally comes into the possession of one or two old women of the +village, who seem to have a prescriptive right to it on payment of a +small toll for beer-money. These women are also on the look-out during +the year for such stray scraps of wool as they can pick up from the +bushes beside the roads and lanes much travelled by sheep--also from the +tall thistles and briars, where they have got through a gap. This wool +is more or less stained by the weather and by particles of dust but it +answers the purpose, which is the manufacture of mops. + +The old-fashioned wool mop is still a necessary adjunct of the +farmhouse, and especially the dairy, which has to be constantly +`swilled' out and mopped clean. With the ancient spinning-wheel they +work up the wool thus gathered; and so, even at this late day, in odd +nooks and corners, the wheel may now and then be found. The peculiar +broad-headed nail which fastens the mop to the stout ashen `steale,' or +handle, is also made in the village. I spell `steale' by conjecture, +and according to pronunciation. It is used also of a rake: instead of a +rake-handle they say rake-steale. Having made the mops, the women go +round with them to the farmhouses of the district, knowing their regular +customers--who prefer to buy of them, not only as a little help to the +poor, but because the mops are really very strongly made. + +In the meadows of the vale the waters of the same stream irrigate +numerous scattered withy-beds, pollard willow trees, and tall willow +poles growing thickly in the hedges by the brook. The most suitable of +these poles are purchased from the farmers by the willow handicraftsmen +of the village up here, to be split into thin flexible strips and +plaited or woven into various articles. These strips are made into +ladies' workbaskets and endless knick-knacks. The flexibility of the +willow is surprising when reduced to these narrow pieces, scarcely +thicker than stout paper. This industry used to keep many hands +employed. There were willow-looms in the village, and to show their +dexterity the weavers sometimes made a shirt of willow--of course only +as a curiosity. The development of straw weaving greatly interfered +with this business; and now it is followed by a few only, who are +chiefly engaged in preparing the raw material to go elsewhere. + +From the ash woods on the slopes, and the copses, of the fields, large +ash-poles are brought, which one or two old men in the place spend their +time splitting up for `flakes'--a `flake' being a frame of light wood, +used after the manner of a hurdle to stop a gap, or pitched in a row to +part a field into two. Hurdle-making is another industry; but of late +years hurdles have been made on a large scale by master carpenters in +the market towns, who employ several men, and undersell the village +maker. + +The wheelwright is perhaps the busiest man in the place; he not only +makes and mends waggon and cart wheels, and the body of those vehicles, +but does almost every other kind of carpentering. Sometimes he combines +the trade of a builder with it--if he has a little capital--and puts up +cottages, barns, sheds, etc, and his yard is strewn with timber. There +is generally a mason, who goes about from farm to farm mending walls and +pigsties, and all such odd jobs, working for his own hand. + +The blacksmith of course is there--sometimes more than one--usually with +plenty to do; for modern agriculture uses three times as much machinery +and ironwork as was formerly the case. At first the blacksmiths did not +understand how to mend many of these new-fangled machines, but they have +learned a good deal, though some of the pieces still have to be replaced +from the implement factories if broken. Horses come trooping in to have +new shoes put on. Sometimes a village blacksmith acquires a fame for +shoeing horses which extends far beyond his forge, and gentlemen +residing in the market towns send out their horses to him to be shod. +He still uses a ground-ash sapling to hold the short chisel with which +he cuts off the glowing iron on the anvil. He keeps bundles of the +young, pliant ground-ash sticks, which twist easily and are peculiarly +tough; and, taking one of these, with a few turns of his wrist winds it +round the chisel so as to have a long handle. One advantage of the wood +is that it `gives' a little and does not jar when struck. + +The tinker, notwithstanding his vagrant habits, is sometimes a man of +substance, owning two or more small cottages, built out of his savings +by the village mason--the materials perhaps carted for him free by a +friendly fanner. When sober and steady, he has a capital trade: his +hands are never idle. Milk-tins, pots, pans, etc, constantly need +mending; he travels from door to door, and may be seen sitting on a +stool in the cart-house in the farmyard, tinkering on his small portable +anvil, with two or three cottagers' children--sturdy, yellow-haired +youngsters--intently watching the mystery of the craft. + +In despite of machine-sewn boots and their cheapness, the village +cobbler is still an institution, and has a considerable number of +patrons. The labourers working in the fields need a boot that will keep +out the damp, and for that purpose it must be hand-sewn: the cobbler, +having lived among them all his life, understands what is wanted better +than the artisan of the cities, and knows how to stud the soles with +nails and cover toe and heel with plates till the huge boot is literally +iron-clad. Even the children wear boots which for their size are +equally heavy: many of the working farmers also send theirs to be +repaired. The only thing to be remembered in dealing with a village +cobbler is, if you want a pair of boots, to order them six months +beforehand, or you will be disappointed. The business occupies him +about as long as it takes a shipwright to build a ship. + +Under the trees of the lane that connects one part of the village with +another stands a wooden post once stout now decaying; and opposite it at +some distance the remnants of a second. This was a rope-walk, but has +long since fallen into disuse; the tendency of the age having for a long +time been to centralise industry of all kinds. It is true that of late +years many manufacturers have found it profitable to remove their +workshops from cities into the country, the rent of premises being so +much less, water to be got by sinking a well, less rates, and wages a +little cheaper. They retain a shop and office in the cities, but have +the work done miles away. But even this is distinctly associated with +centralisation. The workmen are merely paid human machines; they do not +labour for their own hands in their own little shops at home, or as the +rope-maker slowly walked backwards here, twisting the hemp under the +elms of the lane, afterwards, doubtless, to take the manufactured +article himself to market and offer his wares for sale from a stand in +the street. + +The millwright used to be a busy man here and there in the villages, but +the railways take the wheat to the steam mills of cities, and where the +water-mills yet run, ironwork has supplanted wood. In some few places +still the women and girls are employed making gloves of a coarse kind, +doing the work at home in their cottages; but the occupation is now +chiefly carried on nearer to the great business centres than this. +Another extinct trade is that of the bell foundry. One village situate +in the hills hard by was formerly celebrated for the church bells cast +there, many of which may be found in far distant towers ringing to this +day. + +Near the edge of the hill, just above the washpool, stands the village +church. Old and grey as it is, yet the usage of the pool by the +shepherds dates from still earlier days. Like some of the farmhouses +further up among the hills, the tower is built of flints set in cement, +which in the passage of time has become almost as hard as the flint +itself. The art of chipping flint to a face for the purpose of making +lines or patterns in walls used to be carried to great perfection, and +even old garden walls may be seen so ornamented. + +The tower is large and tall, and the church a great one; or so it +appears in comparison with the small population of the place. But it +may be that when it was built there were more inhabitants; for some +signs remain that here--as in many other such villages--the people have +decreased in numbers: the population has shifted elsewhere. An adjacent +parish lying just under the downs has now not more than fifty +inhabitants; yet in the olden time a church stood there--long since +dismantled: the ancient churchyard is an orchard, no one being permitted +to dig or plough the ground. + +Entering the tower by the narrow nail-studded door, it is not so easy to +ascend the winding geometrical stone staircase, in the confined space +and the darkness, for the arrow-slits are choked with cobwebs and the +dust of years. A faint fluttering sound comes from above, as of wings +beating the air in a confined space--it is the jackdaws in the belfry; +just as the starlings and swallows in the huge old-fashioned chimneys +make a similar murmuring noise before they settle. Passing a slit or +two--the only means of marking the height which has been reached--and +the dull tick of the old clock becomes audible: slow and accompanied +with a peculiar grating vibration, as if the frame of the antique works +had grown tremulous with age. The dial-plate outside is square, placed +at an angle to the perpendicular lines of the tower: the gilding of the +hour-marks has long since tarnished and worn away before the storms, and +they are now barely distinguishable; and it is difficult to tell the +precise time by the solitary pointer, there being no minute hand. + +Past another slit, and the narrow stone steps--you must take care to +keep close to the outer wall where they are widest, for they narrow to +the central pillar--are scooped out by the passage of feet during the +centuries; some, too, are broken, and others are slippery with something +that rolls and gives under the foot. It is a number of little sticks +and twigs which have fallen down from the jackdaws' nests above: higher +up the steps are literally covered with them, so that you have to kick +them aside before you can conveniently ascend. These sticks are nearly +all of the same size, brown and black from age and the loss of the sap, +the bark remaining on. It is surprising how the birds contrive to find +so many suitable to their purpose, searching about under the trees; for +they do not break them off, but take those that have fallen. + +The best place for finding these sticks--and those the rooks use--is +where a tree has been felled or a thick hedge cut some months before. +In cutting up the smaller branches into faggots the men necessarily +frequently step on them, and so break off innumerable twigs too short to +be tied up in the bundle. After they have finished faggoting, the women +rake up the fragments for their cottage fires; and later on, as the +spring advances, the birds come for the remaining twigs, of which great +quantities are left. These they pick up from among the grass; and it is +noticeable that they like twigs that are dead but not decayed: they do +not care for them when green, and reject them when rotten. Have they +discovered that green wood shrinks in drying, and that rotten wood is +untrustworthy? Rooks, jackdaws, and pigeons find their building +materials in this way, where trees or hedges have been cut; yet even +then it must require some patience. They use also a great deal of +material rearranged from the nests of last year--that is, rooks and +jackdaws. + +Stepping out at last into the belfry, be careful how you tread; for the +flooring is worm-eaten, and here and there planks are loose: keep your +foot, if possible, on the beams, which at least are fixed. It is a +giddy height to fall from down to the stone pavement below, where the +ringers stand. Their ropes are bound round with list or cloth, or some +such thing, for a better grasp for the hand. High as it is to this the +first floor, if you should attempt to ring one of these bells, and +forget to let the rope slip quickly, it will jerk you almost to the +ceiling: thus many a man has broken his bones close to the font where he +was christened as a child. + +Against the wall up here are iron clamps to strengthen the ancient +fabric, settling somewhat in its latter days; and, opening the +worm-eaten door of the clock-case--the key stands in it--you may study +the works of the old clock for a full hour, if so it please you; for the +clerk is away labouring in the field, and his aged wife, who produced +the key of the church and pointed the nearest way across the meadow, has +gone to the spring. The ancient building, standing lonely on the hill, +is utterly deserted; the creak of the boards under foot or the grate of +the rusty hinge sounds hollow and gloomy. But a streak of sunlight +enters from the arrow-slit, a bee comes in through the larger open +windows with a low inquiring buzz; there is a chattering of +sparrows, the peculiar shrill screech of the swifts, and a +`jack-jack-daw-jack-daw'-ing outside. The sweet scent of clover and of +mown grass comes upon the light breeze--mayhap the laughter of haymakers +passing through the churchyard underneath to their work, and idling by +the way as haymakers can idle. + +The name of the maker on the clock shows that it was constructed in a +little market town a few miles distant a century ago, before industries +were centralised and local life began to lose its individuality. There +are sparrows' nests on the wooden case over it, and it is stopped now +and then by feathers getting into the works: it matters nothing here; +_Festina lente_ is the village motto, and time is little regarded. So, +if you wish, take a rubbing, with heelball borrowed from the cobbler, of +the inscriptions round the rims of the great bells; but be careful even +then, for the ringers have left one carelessly tilted, and if the rope +should slip, nineteen hundredweight of brazen metal may jam you against +the framework. + +The ringers are an independent body, rustics though they be-- +monopolists, not to be lightly ordered about, as many a vicar has found +to his cost, having a silent belfry for his pains, and not a man to be +got, either, from adjacent villages. It is about as easy to knock this +solid tower over with a walking-stick as to change village customs. But +if towards Christmas you should chance to say to the ringers that such +and such a chime seemed rung pleasantly, be certain that you will hear +it night after night coming with a throbbing joyfulness through the +starlit air--every note of the peal rising clear and distinct at the +exact moment of time, as if struck by machinery, yet with a quivering +undertone that dwells on the ear after the wave of sound has gone. Then +go out and walk in the garden or field, for it is a noble music; +remember, too, that it is a music that has echoed from the hills +hundreds and hundreds of years. Rude men as they are, these bellringers +gratefully respond to the least appreciation of their art. + +A few more turns about the spiral staircase, and then step out on the +roof. The footstep is deadened by the dull coloured lead, oxidised from +exposure. The tarnished weathercock above revolves so stiffly as to be +heedless of the light air,--only facing a strong breeze. The irreverent +jackdaws, now wheeling round at a safe distance, build in every coign of +vantage, no matter how incongruous their intrusion may be--on the wings +of an angel, behind the flowing robe of Saint Peter, or yonder in the +niche, grey and lichen-grown, where stood the Virgin Mary before +iconoclastic hands dashed her image to the ground. If a gargoyle be +broken or choked so that no water comes through it, they will use it, +but not otherwise. And they have nests, too, just on the ledge in the +thickness of the wall, outside those belfry windows which are partially +boarded up. Anywhere, in short, high up and well sheltered, suits the +jackdaw. + +When nesting time is over, jackdaws seem to leave the church and roost +with the rooks; they use the tower much as the rooks do their hereditary +group of trees at a distance from the wood they sleep in at other +seasons. How came the jackdaw to make its nest on church towers in the +first place? The bird has become so associated with churches that it is +difficult to separate the two; yet it is certain that the bird preceded +the building. Archaeologists tell us that stone buildings of any +elevation, whether for religious purposes or defence, were not erected +till a comparatively late date in this island. Now, the low huts of +primeval peoples would hardly attract the jackdaw. It is the argument +of those who believe in immutable and infallible instinct that the +habits of birds, etc, are unchangeable: the bee building a cell to-day +exactly as it built one centuries before our era. Have we not here, +however, a modification of habit? + +The jackdaw could not have originally built in tall stone buildings. +Localising the question to this country, may we not almost fix the date +when the jackdaw began to use the church, or the battlements of the +tower, by marking the time of their first erection? The jackdaw was +clever enough, and had reason sufficient to enable him to see how these +high, isolated positions suited his peculiar habits; and I am bold +enough to think that if the bee could be shown a better mode of building +her comb, she would in time come to use it. + +In the churchyard, not far from the foot of the tower where the jackdaws +are so busy, stands a great square tomb, built of four slabs of stone on +edge and a broader one laid on the top. The inscription is barely +legible, worn away by the ironshod heels of generations of ploughboys +kicking against it in their rude play, and where they have not chipped +it, filled with lichen. The sexton says that this tomb in the olden +days was used as the pay-table upon which the poor received their weekly +dole. His father told him that he had himself stood there hungry, with +the rest--not broken-down cripples and widows, but strong, hale men, +waiting till the loaves were placed upon the broad slab, so that the +living were fed literally over the grave of the dead. + +The farmers met every now and then in the vestry and arranged how many +men each would find work for--or rather partial work--so that the amount +of relief might be apportioned. Men coming from a distance, or even +from the next parish, were jealously excluded from settling, lest there +should be more mouths to feed; if a family, on the other hand, could by +any possibility be got rid of, it was exiled. There were more hands +than work; now the case is precisely opposite. A grim witness, this old +tomb, to a traditionary fragment in that history of the people which is +now placed above a mere list of monarchs. + +The oldest person in the village was a woman--as is often the case-- +reputed to be over a hundred: a tidy cottager, well tended, feeble in +body, but brisk of tongue. She reckoned her own age by the thatch of +the roof. It had been completely new thatched five times since she +could recollect. The first time she was a great girl, grown up: her +father had it thatched twice afterwards; her husband had it done the +fourth time, and the fifth was three years ago. That made about a +hundred years altogether. + +The straw had lasted better lately, because there were now no great elm +trees to drip, drip on it in wet weather. Cottagers are frequently +really squatters, building on the waste land beside the highway close to +the hedgerow, and consequently under the trees. This dripping on the +roof is very bad for thatch. Straw is remarkably durable, even when +exposed to the weather, if good in the first place and well laid on. It +may be reckoned to last twenty years on an average, perhaps more. Five +thatchings, then, made eighty years; add three years since the last +thatching; and the old lady supposed she was seventeen or eighteen at +the first--i.e. just a century since. But in all likelihood her +recollections of the first thatching were confused and uncertain: she +was perhaps eight or ten at that time, which would reduce her real age +to a little over ninety. A great part of the village had twice been +destroyed by fire since she could remember. These fires are or were +singularly destructive in villages--the flames running from thatch to +thatch, and, as they express it, `wrastling' across the intervening +spaces. A pain is said to `wrastle,' or shoot and burn. Such fires are +often caused by wood ashes from the hearth thrown on the dustheap while +yet some embers contain sufficient heat to fire straw or rubbish. + +The old woman's memories were wholly of gossipy family history; I have +often found that the very aged have not half so much to tell as those of +about sixty to seventy years. The next oldest was a man about eighty; +all he knew of history was that once on a time some traitor withdrew the +flints from the muskets of the English troops, substituting pieces of +wood, which, of course, would not ignite the powder, and thus they were +beaten. Of date, place, or persons he had no knowledge. He `minded' a +great snowfall when he was a boy, and helping to drag the coaches out +and making a firm road for them with hurdles. Once while grubbing a +hedge near the road he found five shillings' worth of pennies--the great +old `coppers'--doubtless hidden by a thief. He could not buy so much +with one of the new sort of coppers: liked them as King George made +best. + +An old lady of about seventy, living at the village inn, a very brisk +body, seemed quite unable to understand what was meant by history, but +could tell me a story if I liked. The story was a rambling narrative of +an amour in some foreign country. The lady, to conceal a meeting with +her paramour, which took place in the presence of her son, who was an +imbecile (or, in her own words, had `no more sense than God gave him,' a +common country expression for a fool), went upstairs and rained raisins +on him from the window. The son told the husband what had happened; +but, asked to specify the time, could only fix it by, `When it rained +raisins.' This was supposed to be merely a fresh proof of his +imbecility, and the lady escaped. + +In this imperfect narrative is there not a distorted version of a +chapter in the `Pentameron'? But how did it get into the mind of an +illiterate old woman in an out-of-the-way village? Nothing yet of +Waterloo, Culloden, Sedgmoor, or the civil war; but in the end an old +man declared that King Charles had once slept in an old house just about +to be pulled down. But then `King Charles' slept according to local +tradition, in most of the old houses in the country. However, I +resolved to visit the place. + +Tall yew hedges, reaching high overhead, thick and impervious, such as +could only be produced in a hundred years of growth and countless +clippings, enclosing a green pleasaunce, the grass uncut for many a +year, weeds overrunning the smooth surface on which the bowls once +rolled true to their bias. In the shelter of these hedges, upon the +sunny side, you might walk in early spring when the east wind is +harshest, without a breath penetrating to chill the blood, warm as +within a cloak of sables, enjoying that peculiar genial feeling which is +induced by sunshine at that period only, and which is somewhat akin to +the sense of convalescence after a weary illness. Thus, sauntering to +and fro, your footstep, returning on itself, passed the thrush sitting +on her nest calm and confident. + +No modern exotic evergreens ever attract our English birds like the true +old English trees and shrubs. In the box and yew they love to build; +spindly laurels and rhododendrons, with vacant draughty spaces +underneath, they detest, avoiding them as much as possible. The common +hawthorn hedge round a country garden shall contain three times as many +nests, and be visited by five times as many birds, as the foreign +evergreens, so costly to rear and so sure to be killed by the first +old-fashioned frost. + +The thrushes are singularly fond of the yew berry; it is of a sticky +substance, sweet and not unpleasant. Holly berries, too, are eaten; and +holly hedges, despite their prickly leaves, are favourites with garden +birds. It would be possible, I think, to so plan out a garden as to +attract almost every feathered creature. + +A fine old filbert walk extends far away towards the orchard: the +branches meet overhead. In autumn the fruit hangs thick; and what is +more exquisite, when gathered from the bough and eaten, as all fruit +should be, on the spot? I cannot understand why filbert walks are not +planted by our modern capitalists, who make nothing of spending a +thousand pounds in forcing-houses. I cannot help thinking that true +taste consists in the selection of what is thoroughly characteristic of +soil and climate. Those magnificent yew hedges, the filbert walk--all, +in fact are to be levelled to make way for a garish stucco-fronted +hunting-box, with staring red stables and every modern convenience. The +sun-dial shaft is already heaved up and broken. + +The old mansion was used as a grammar school for a great many years, but +has been deserted for the last quarter of a century; and melancholy +indeed are the silent hollow halls and dormitories. The whitewashed +walls are yellow and green from damp, and covered in patches with +saltpetre efflorescence; but they still bear the hasty inscriptions +scrawled on them by boyish hands--some far back in the eighteenth +century. The history of this little kingdom, with its dynasties of +tutors and masters, its succeeding generations of joyous youth, might be +gathered from these writings on the walls: sketches in burned stick or +charcoal of extinct monarchs of the desk; rude doggerel verses; curious +jingles of Latin and English words of which every great school has its +specimens; dates of day and month when doubtless some daring expedition +was carried out; and here and there (originally hidden behind furniture, +we may suppose) bitter words of hatred against the injustice of ruling +authorities--arbitrary ushers and cruel masters. + +The casements, broken and blown in, have permitted all the winds of +heaven to wreak their will; and the storms sweeping over from the +adjacent downs beat as they choose upon the floor. Within an upper +window--now obviously enough a wind-door--two swallows' nests have been +built against the wall close to the ceiling, and their pleasant twitter +greets you as you enter; and so does the whistling of the starlings on +the roof. But without there, below, the ring of the bricklayer's trowel +as he chips a brick has already given them notice to quit. + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +VILLAGE ARCHITECTURE--THE COTTAGE PREACHER--COTTAGE SOCIETY--THE +SHEPHERD--EVENTS OF THE VILLAGE YEAR. + +Some few farmhouses, with cow-yards and rickyards attached, are planted +in the midst of the village; and these have cottages occupied by the +shepherds and carters, or other labourers, who remain at work for the +same employer all the year. These cottages are perhaps the best in the +place, larger and more commodious, with plenty of space round them, and +fair-sized gardens close to the door. The system of hiring for a +twelvemonth has been bitterly attacked; but as a matter of fact there +can be no doubt that a man with a family is better off when settled in +one spot with constant employment, and any number of odd jobs for his +wife and children. The cottages not attached to any particular farm-- +belonging to various small owners--are generally much less convenient; +they are huddled together, and the footpaths and rights of way +frequently cross, and so lead to endless bickering. + +Not the faintest trace of design can be found in the ground-plan of the +village. All the odd nooks and corners seem to have been preferred for +building sites; and even the steep side of the hill is dotted with +cottages, with gardens at an angle of forty-five degrees or more, and +therefore difficult to work. Here stands a group of elm trees; there +half-a-dozen houses; next a cornfield thrusting a long narrow strip into +the centre of the place; more cottages built with the back to the road, +and the front door opening just the other way; a small meadow, a well, a +deep lane, with banks built up of loose stone to prevent them slipping-- +only broad enough for one waggon to pass at once--and with cottages high +above reached by steps; an open space where three more crooked lanes +meet; a turnpike gate, and, of course, a beerhouse hard by it. + +Each of these crooked lanes has its group of cottages and its own +particular name; but all the lanes and roads passing through the village +are known colloquially as `the street'. There is an individuality, so +to say, in these by-ways, and in the irregular architecture of the +houses, which does not exist in the straight rows, each cottage exactly +alike, of the modern blocks in the neighbourhood of cities. And the +inhabitants correspond with their dwelling in this respect--most of +them, especially the elder folk, being `characters' in their way. + +Such old-fashioned cottages are practically built around the chimney; +the chimney is the firm nucleus of solid masonry or brickwork about +which the low walls of rubble are clustered. When such a cottage is +burned down the chimney is nearly always the only thing that remains, +and against the chimney it is built up again. Next in importance is the +roof, which, rising from very low walls, really encloses half of the +inhabitable space. + +The one great desire of the cottager's heart--after his garden--is +plenty of sheds and outhouses in which to store wood, vegetables, and +lumber of all kinds. This trait is quite forgotten as a rule by those +who design `improved' cottages for gentlemen anxious to see the +labourers on their estates well lodged; and consequently the new +buildings do not give so much satisfaction as might be expected. It is +only natural that to a man whose possessions are limited, things like +potatoes, logs of wood, chips, odds and ends should assume a value +beyond the appreciation of the well-to-do. The point should be borne in +mind by those who are endeavouring to give the labouring class better +accommodation. + +A cottage attached to a farmstead, which has been occupied by a steady +man who has worked on the tenancy for the best part of his life, and +possibly by his father before him, sometimes contains furniture of a +superior kind. This has been purchased piece by piece in the course of +years, some representing a a little legacy--cottagers who have a trifle +of property are very proud of making wills--and some perhaps the last +remaining relics of former prosperity. It is not at all uncommon to +find men like this, whose forefathers no great while since held farms, +and even owned them, but fell by degrees in the social scale, till at +last their grandchildren work in the fields for wages. An old chair or +cabinet which once stood in the farmhouse generations ago is still +preserved. + +Upon the shelf may be found a few books--a Bible, of course; hardly a +cottager who can read is without his Bible--and among the rest an +ancient volume of polemical theology, bound in leather; it dates back to +the days of the fierce religious controversies which raged in the period +which produced Cromwell. There is a rude engraving of the author for +frontispiece, title in red letter, a tedious preface, and the text is +plentifully bestrewn with Latin and Greek quotations. These add greatly +to its value in the cottager's eyes, for he still looks upon a knowledge +of Latin as the essential of a `scholard.' This book has evidently been +handed down for many generations as a kind of heirloom, for on the blank +leaves may be seen the names of the owners with the inevitable addition +of `his' or `her book.' It is remarkable that literature of this sort +should survive so long. + +Even yet not a little of that spirit which led to the formation of so +many contending sects in the seventeenth century lingers in the cottage. +I have known men who seemed to reproduce in themselves the character of +the close-cropped soldiers who prayed and fought by turns with such +energy. They still read the Bible in its most literal sense, taking +every word as addressed to them individually, and seriously trying to +shape their lives in accordance with their convictions. + +Such a man, who has been labouring in the hay-field all day, in the +evening may be found exhorting a small but attentive congregation in a +cottage hard by. Though he can but slowly wade through the book, letter +by letter, word by word, he has caught the manner of the ancient writer, +and expresses himself in an archaic style not without its effect. +Narrow as the view must be which is unassisted by education and its +broad sympathies, there is no mistaking the thorough earnestness of the +cottage preacher. He believes what he says, and no persuasion, +rhetoric, or force could move him one jot. His congregation approve his +discourse with groans and various ejaculations. Men of this kind won +Cromwell's victories; but to-day they are mainly conspicuous for upright +steadiness and irreproachable moral character, mingled with some surly +independence. They are not `agitators' in the current sense of the +term; the local agents of labour associations seem chosen from quite a +different class. + +Pausing once to listen to such a man, who was preaching in a roadside +cottage in a loud and excited manner, I found he was describing, in +graphic if rude language, the procession of a martyr of the Inquisition +to the stake. His imagination naturally led him to picture the +circumstances as corresponding to the landscape of fields with which he +had been from youth familiar. The executioners were dragging the victim +bound along a footpath across the meadows to the pile which had been +prepared for burning him. When they arrived at the first stile they +halted, and held an argument with the prisoner, promising him his life +and safety if he would recant, but he held to the faith. + +Then they set out again, beating and torturing the sufferer along the +path, the crowd hissing and reviling. At the next stile a similar scene +took place--promise of pardon, and scornful refusal to recant, followed +by more torture. Again, at the third and last stile, the victim was +finally interrogated, and, still firmly clinging to his belief, was +committed to the flames in the centre of the field. Doubtless there was +some historic basis for the story; but the preacher made it quite his +own by the vigour and life of the local colouring in which he clothed +it, speaking of the green grass, the flowers, the innocent sheep, the +faggots, and so on, bringing it home to the minds of his audience to +whom faggots and grass and sheep were so well known. They worked +themselves into a state of intense excitement as the narrative +approached its climax, till a continuous moaning formed a deep undertone +to the speaker's voice. Such men are not paid, trained, or organised; +they labour from goodwill in the cause. + +Now and then a woman, too, may be found who lectures in the little +cottage room where ten or fifteen, perhaps twenty, are packed almost to +suffocation; or she prays aloud and the rest respond. Sometimes, no +doubt, persons of little sincerity practise these things from pure +vanity and the ambition of preaching--for there is ambition in cottage +life as elsewhere; but the men and women I speak of are thoroughly in +earnest. + +Cottagers have their own social creed and customs. In their +intercourse, one point which seems to be insisted upon particularly is a +previous knowledge or acquaintance. The very people whose morals are +known to be none of the strictest--and cottage morality is sometimes +very far from severe--will refuse, and especially the women, to admit a +strange girl, for instance, to sleep in their house for ample +remuneration, even when introduced by really respectable persons. +Servant-girls in the country where railways even now are few and far +between often walk long distances to see mistresses in want of +assistance, by appointment. They get tired; perhaps night approaches +and then comes the difficulty, of lodging them if the house happens to +be full. Cottagers make the greatest difficulty, unless by some chance +it should be discovered that they met the girl's uncle or cousin years +ago. + +To their friends and neighbours, on the contrary, they are often very +kind, and ready to lend a helping hand. If they seldom sit down to a +social gathering among themselves, it is because they see each other so +constantly during the day, working in the same fields, and perhaps +eating their luncheon a dozen together in the same outhouse. A visitor +whom they know from the next village is ever welcome to what fare there +is. On Sundays the younger men often set out to call on friends at a +distance of several miles, remaining with them all day; they carry with +them a few lettuces, or apples from the tree in the garden (according to +the season), wrapped up in a coloured handkerchief, as a present. + +Some of the older shepherds still wear the ancient blue smock-frock, +crossed with white `facings' like coarse lace; but the rising generation +use the greatcoat of modern make, at which their forefathers would have +laughed as utterly useless in the rain-storms that blow across the open +hills. Among the elder men, too, may be found a few of the huge +umbrellas of a former age, which when spread give as much shelter as a +small tent. It is curious that they rarely use an umbrella in the +field, even when simply standing about; but if they go a short journey +along the highway, then they take it with them. The aged men sling +these great umbrellas over the shoulder with a piece of tar-cord, just +as a soldier slings his musket, and so have both hands free--one to +stump along with a stout stick and the other to carry a flag basket. +The stick is always too lengthy to walk with as men use it in cities, +carrying it by the knob or handle; it is a staff rather than a stick, +the upper end projecting six or eight inches above the hand. + +If any labourers deserve to be paid well, it is the shepherds: upon +their knowledge and fidelity the principal profit of a whole season +depends on so many farms. On the bleak hills in lambing time the +greatest care is necessary; and the fold, situated in a hollow if +possible, with the down rising on the east or north, is built as it were +of straw walls, thick and warm, which the sheep soon make hollow inside, +and thus have a cave in which to nestle. + +The shepherd has a distinct individuality, and is generally a much more +observant man in his own sphere than the ordinary labourer. He knows +every single field in the whole parish, what kind of weather best suits +its soil, and can tell you without going within sight of a given farm +pretty much what condition it will be found in. Knowledge of this +character may seem trivial to those whose days are passed indoors; yet +it is something to recollect all the endless fields in several square +miles of country. As a student remembers for years the type and paper, +the breadth of the margin--can see, as it were, before his eyes the +bevel of the binding and hear again the rustle of the stiff leaves of +some tall volume which he found in a forgotten corner of a library, and +bent over with such delight, heedless of dust and `silver-fish' and the +gathered odour of years--so the shepherd recalls _his_ books, the +fields; for he, in the nature of things, has to linger over them and +study every letter: sheep are slow. + +When the hedges are grubbed and the grass grows where the hawthorn +flowered, still the shepherd can point out to you where the trees +stood--here an oak and here an ash. On the hills he has often little to +do but ponder deeply, sitting on the turf of the slope, while the sheep +graze in the hollow, waiting for hours as they eat their way. Therefore +by degrees a habit of observation grows upon him--always in reference to +his charge; and if he walks across the parish off duty he still cannot +choose but notice how the crops are coming on, and where there is most +`keep.' The shepherd has been the last of all to abandon the old custom +of long service. While the labourers are restless, there may still be +found not a few instances of shepherds whose whole lives have been spent +upon one farm. Thus, from the habit of observation and the lapse of +years, they often become local authorities; and when a dispute of +boundaries or water rights or right of way arises, the question is +frequently finally decided by the evidence of such a man. + +Every now and then a difficulty happens in reference to the old green +lanes and bridle-tracks which once crossed the country in every +direction, but get fewer in number year by year. Sometimes it is +desired to enclose a section of such a track to round off an estate: +sometimes a path has grown into a valuable thoroughfare through increase +of population; and then the question comes, Who is to repair it? There +is little or no documentary evidence to be found--nothing can be traced +except through the memories of men; and so they come to the old +shepherd, who has been stationary all his life, and remembers the +condition of the lane fifty years since. He always liked to drive his +sheep along it--first, because it saved the turnpike tolls; secondly, +because they could graze on the short herbage and rest under the shade +of the thick bushes. Even in the helplessness of his old age he is not +without his use at the very last, and his word settles the matter. + +In the winter twilight, after a fall of snow, it is difficult to find +one's way across the ploughed fields of the open plain, for it melts on +the south of every furrow, leaving a white line where it has ledged on +the northern side, till the furrows resemble an endless succession of +waves of earth tipped with foam-flecks of snow. These are dazzling to +the eyes, and there are few hedges or trees visible for guidance. Snow +lingers sometimes for weeks on the northern slopes of the downs--where +shallow dry dykes, used as landmarks, are filled with it: the dark mass +of the hill is streaked like the black hull of a ship with its line of +white paint. Field work during what the men call `the dark days afore +Christmas' is necessarily much restricted and they are driven to find +some amusement for the long evenings--such as blowing out candles at the +ale-house with muzzle-loader guns for wagers of liquor, the wind of the +cap alone being sufficient for the purpose at a short distance. + +The children never forget Saint Thomas's Day, which ancient custom has +consecrated to alms, and they wend their way from farmhouse to farmhouse +throughout the parish; it is usual to keep to the parish, for some of +the old local feeling still remains even in these cosmopolitan times. +At Christmas sometimes the children sing carols, not with much success +so far as melody goes, but otherwise successfully enough; for +recollections of the past soften the hearts of the crustiest. + +The young men for weeks previously have been practising for the +mumming--a kind of rude drama requiring, it would seem, as much +rehearsal beforehand as the plays at famous theatres. They dress in a +fantastic manner, with masks and coloured ribbons; anything grotesque +answers, for there is little attempt at dressing in character. They +stroll round to each farmhouse in the parish, and enact the play in the +kitchen or brewhouse; after which the whole company are refreshed with +ale, and, receiving a few coins, go on to the next homestead. Mumming, +however, has much deteriorated, even in the last fifteen or twenty +years. On nights when the players were known to be coming, in addition +to the farmer's household and visitors at that season, the cottagers +residing near used to assemble, so that there was quite an audience. +Now it is a chance whether they come round or not. + +A more popular pastime with the young men, and perhaps more profitable, +is the formation of a brass band. They practise vigorously before +Christmas, and sometimes attain considerable proficiency. At the proper +season they visit the farms in the evening, and as the houses are far +apart, so that only a few can be called at in the hours available after +work, it takes them some time to perambulate the parish. So that for +two or three weeks about the end of the old and the beginning of the new +year, if one chances to be out at night, every now and then comes the +unwonted note of a distant trumpet sounding over the fields. The custom +has grown frequent of recent years, and these bands collect a good deal +of money. + +The ringers from the church come too, with their hand-bells and ring +pleasant tunes--which, however, on bells are always plaintive--standing +on the crisp frozen grass of the green before the window. They are well +rewarded, for bells are great favourites with all country people. + +What is more pleasant than the jingling of the tiny bells on the harness +of the cart-horses? You may hear the team coming with a load of straw +on the waggon three furlongs distant; then step out to the road, and +watch the massive yet shapely creatures pull the heavy weight up the +hill, their glossy quarters scarcely straining, but heads held high +showing the noble neck, the hoofs planted with sturdy pride of strength, +the polished brass of the harness glittering, and the bells merrily +jingling! The carter, the thong of his whip nodding over his shoulder, +walks by the shaft, his boy ahead by the leader, as proud of his team as +the sailor of his craft: even the whip is not to be lightly come by, but +is chosen carefully, bound about with rows of brazen rings; neither +could you or I knot the whipcord on to his satisfaction. + +For there is a certain art even in so small a thing, not to be learned +without time and practice; and his pride in whip, harness, and team is +surely preferable to the indifference of a stranger, caring for nothing +but his money at the end of the week. The modern system--men coming one +day and gone the next--leaves no room for the growth of such feelings, +and the art and mystery of the craft loses its charm. The harness +bells, too, are disappearing; hardly one team in twenty carries them +now. + +Those who labour in the fields seem to have far fewer holidays than the +workers in towns. The latter issue from factory and warehouse at +Easter, and rush gladly into the country: at Whitsuntide, too, they +enjoy another recess. But the farmer and the labourer work on much the +same, the closing of banks and factories in no way interfering with the +tilling of the earth or the tending of cattle. In May the ploughboys +still remember King Charles, and on what they call `shick-shack day' +search for oak-apples and the young leaves of the oak to place with a +spray of ash in their hats or button-holes: the ash spray must have even +leaves; an odd number is not correct. To wear these green emblems was +thought imperative even within the last twenty years, and scarcely a +labourer could be seen without them. The elder men would tell you--as +if it had been a grave calamity--that they could recollect a year when +the spring was so backward that not an oak leaf or oak-apple could be +found by the most careful search for the purpose. The custom has fallen +much into disuse lately: the carters, however, still attach the ash and +oak leaves to the heads of their horses on this particular day. + +Many village clubs or friendly societies meet in the spring, others in +autumn. The day is sometimes fixed by the date of the ancient feast. +The club and fete threaten, indeed, to supplant the feast altogether: +the friendly society having been taken under the patronage of the higher +ranks of residents. Here and there the feast-day, however (the day on +which the church was dedicated), is still remembered, as in this +village, where the elder fanners invite their friends and provide +liberally for the occasion. Some of the gipsies still come with their +stalls, and a little crowd assembles in the evening; but the glory of +the true feast has departed. + +The elder men, nevertheless, yet reckon by the feast-day; it is a fixed +point in their calendar, which they construct every year, of local +events. Such and such a fair is calculated to fall so many days after +the first full moon in a particular month; and another fair falls so +long after that. An old man will thus tell you the dates of every fair +and feast in all the villages and little towns ten or fifteen miles +round about. He quite ignores the modern system of reckoning time, +going by the ancient ecclesiastical calendar and the moon. How deeply +the ancient method must have impressed itself into the life of these +people to still remain a kind of instinct at this late day! + +The feasts are in some cases identified with certain well-recognised +events in the calendar of nature; such as the ripening of cherries. It +may be noticed that these, chancing thus to correspond pretty accurately +on the average with the state of fruit, are kept up more vigorously than +those which have no such aid to the memory. The Lady-Day fair and +Michaelmas fair at the adjacent market town are the two best recognised +holidays of the year. The fair is sometimes called `the mop,' and +stalwart girls will walk eight or nine miles rather than miss it. +Maidservants in farmhouses always bargain for a holiday on fair day. +These two main fairs are the Bank Holidays of rural life. It is curious +to observe that the developments of the age, railroads and +manufactories, have not touched the traditional prestige of these +gatherings. + +For instance, you may find a town which, by the incidence of the +railroad and the springing up of great industries, has shot far ahead of +the other sleepy little places; its population may treble itself, its +trade be ten times as large, its attractions one would imagine +incalculably greater. Nothing of the kind: its annual fair is not +nearly so important an event to the village mind as that of an old-world +slumberous place removed from the current of civilisation. This place, +which is perhaps eight or nine miles by road, with no facilities of +communication, has from time immemorial had a reputation for its fair. +There, accordingly, the scattered rural population wends, making no +account of distance and very little of weather: it is a country maxim +that it always rains on fair day, and mostly thunders. There they +assemble and enjoy themselves in the old-fashioned way, which consists +in standing in the streets, buying `fairings' for the girls, shooting +for nuts, visiting all the shows, and so on. + +To push one's way through such a crowd is no simple matter; the +countryman does not mean to be rude, but he has not the faintest +conception that politeness demands a little yielding. He has to be +shoved, and makes no objection. A city crowd is to a certain extent +mobile--each recognises that he must give way. A country crowd stand +stock still. + +The thumping of drums, the blaring of trumpets, the tootling of +pan-pipes in front of the shows, fill the air with a din which may be +heard miles away, and seem to give the crowd intense pleasure--far more +than the crack band of the Coldstream Guards could impart. Nor are they +ever weary of gazing at the `pelican of the wilderness' as the showman +describes it--a mournful bird with draggled feathers standing by the +entrance, a traditional part of his stock-in-trade. One attraction-- +perhaps the strongest--may be found in the fact that all the countryside +is sure to be there. Each labourer or labouring woman will meet +acquaintances from distant villages they have not seen or heard of for +months. The rural gossip of half a county will be exchanged. + +In the autumn after the harvest the gleaning is still an important time +to the cottager, though nothing like it used to be. Reaping by +machinery has made rapid inroads, and there is not nearly so much left +behind as in former days. Yet half the women and children of the place +go out and glean, but very few now bake at home; they have their bread +from the baker, who comes round in the smallest hamlets. Possibly they +had a more wholesome article in the olden time, when the wheat from +their gleanings was ground at the village mill, and the flour made into +bread at home. But the cunning of the mechanician has invaded the +ancient customs; the very sheaves are now to be bound with wire by the +same machine that reaps the corn. The next generation of country folk +will hardly be able to understand the story of Ruth. + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THE HAMLET--COTTAGE ASTROLOGY--GHOST LORE--HERBS--THE WAGGON AND ITS +CREW--STILES--THE TRYSTING-PLACE--THE THATCHER--SMUGGLERS--AGUE. + +In most large rural parishes there is at least one small hamlet a mile +or two distant from the main village. A few houses and cottages stand +loosely scattered about the fields, no two of them together; so +separated, indeed, by hedges, meadows, and copses as hardly to be called +even a hamlet. The communication with the village is maintained by a +long, winding narrow lane; but foot-passengers follow a shorter path +across the fields, which in winter is sure to be ankle-deep in mud, by +the gateways and stiles. The lane, at the same time, is crossed by a +torrent, which may spread out to thirty yards wide in the hollow, +shallow at the edges, but swift and deep in the middle. + +If you wait a couple of hours it will subside, as the farmers lower down +the brook pull up the hatches to let the flood pass. If you are in a +hurry, you must climb up into the double mound beside the lane, and +force your way along it between thorns and stoles, till you reach the +channel through which the current is rushing. Across that an old tree +trunk will probably lie, and by grasping a bough as a handrail it is +possible to get over. But either way, by lane or footpath, you are sure +to get what the country folk call `watchet' i.e. wet. So that in winter +the hamlet is practically isolated; for even in moderately good weather +the lane is an inch or two deep in finely puddled adhesive mud. It is +so shaded by elms and thick hedges that the dirt requires a length of +time to dry, while the passage of hundreds of sheep tread and puddle it +as only sheep can. + +In summer the place is lovely; but then the inhabitants are one and all +busy in the fields, and have little time for social intercourse or for +travel into the next parish. It is ten to one if you knock at a cottage +door you will find it locked, if indeed, you get so fax as that, a +padlock being often on the garden gate. Being so isolated and apart +from the current of modern life and manners, the hamlet folk retain +something of the old-fashioned way of thinking. They do not believe +their own superstitions with the implicit credence of yore, but they +have not yet forgotten them. I have known women, for instance, who +seriously asserted that such-and-such an aged person possessed a magic +book which contained spells, and enabled her to foresee some kinds of +coming events. The influence of the moon, so firm an article of faith +among their forefathers, is not altogether overlooked; and they watch +for the new moon carefully. If the crescent slopes, it will be wet +weather. But if the horns of the crescent touch, or nearly, a vertical +line, if it stands upright, then it will be fine. Something, too, must +be allowed for the degree of sharpness of definition of the crescent, +which reveals the state of the atmosphere. And the cottage astrologer +has a whole table of the quarters, aspects, and so on, and lays much +stress upon the day and hour of the change: indeed, it is a very +complicated business to understand the moon. + +The belief in the power of certain persons to `rule the planets' is +profound; so profound that neither ridicule, argument, nor authority +will shake it in the minds of the hamlet girls, and it abides with them +even when they are placed amidst the disenchanting realities of town +life. When `in service,' they buy dream-books, and consult +fortune-tellers. The gipsies, in passing through the country, choose +the by-ways and lanes; they thus avoid the tolls, have a chance of +poaching, and find waste places to camp in, though possibly something of +the true nomadic instinct may urge them to leave the beaten tracks and +wander over lonely regions. They camp near the hamlet as they travel to +and from the great sheep fairs which are held upon the hills, and +perhaps stay a few days; and by them, to some extent, the belief in +astrology and palmistry is strengthened. + +The carters, who have to spend some considerable time every day with +their horses in the stable, still retain a large repertory of legendary +ghost lore. They know the exact spot in the lane where, at a certain +hour of the night, the white spectre of a headless horse, rushing past +with incredible swiftness and without the sound of a hoof, brushes the +very coat of the traveller, and immediately disappears in the darkness. +Another lane is haunted by a white woman, whose spectre crosses it in +front of the spectator and then appears behind him. If he turns his +head or looks on one side in order to escape the sight of the +apparition, it instantly crosses to that side. Indeed, no matter in +which direction he glances, the flickering figure floats before him, +till, making a run for it, he passes beyond the limits of the haunted +ground. + +Near by the hollow, where the stream crosses the lane, is another +spirit, but of an indefinite kind, that does not seem to take shape, but +causes those who go past at the time when it has power to feel a mortal +horror. A black dog may be seen in at least two different places: the +wayfarer is suddenly surprised to find a gigantic animal of the deepest +jet trotting by his side, or he sees a dark shadow detach itself from +the bushes and take the form of a dog. The black dog has perhaps more +vitality, and survives in more localities, than all the apparitions that +in the olden times were sworn to by persons of the highest veracity. +They may still be heard of in many a nook and corner. I have known +people of the present day who were positive that there really was +`something' weird in the places where the dog was said to appear. + +It is supposed that horses are peculiarly liable to take fright and run +away, to shy, or stumble, and break their knees, at a certain spot in +the road. They go very well till just on passing the fatal spot a +sudden fear seizes them as if they could see something invisible to men; +sometimes they bolt headlong, sometimes stand stock still and shiver; or +throw the rider by a rapid side movement. In the daytime--for this +supernatural effect is felt in broad day as well as at night--the horse +more frequently falls or stumbles, as if checked by an invisible force +in the midst of his career. This, too, is a living superstition, and +some persons will recount a whole string of accidents that have happened +within a few yards; till at last, such is the force of iteration, the +most incredulous admit it to be a series of remarkable coincidences. +These last two, the black dog and the dangerous place in the road, are +believed in by people of a much higher grade than carters. Altogether, +the vitality of superstition in the country is very much greater than is +commonly suspected. It is now confined, as it were, to the inner life +of the people: no one talks of such things openly, but only to their +friends, and thus a stranger might remark on the total extinction of the +belief in the supernatural. But much really remains. + +The carters have a story about horses which had spent the night in a +meadow being found the next morning in a state of exhaustion, as if they +had been ridden furiously during the hours of darkness. They were +totally unfit for work next day. Instances are even given where men +have hidden in a tree with a gun, and when the horses began to gallop +fired at something indistinct sitting on their haunches, which something +at once disappeared, and the excitement ceased. But these things are +said to have happened a long time ago. + +So, also, there is a memory of a man digging stone in a quarry and +distinctly hearing the strokes of a pick beneath him. When he wheeled +his barrow the subterranean quarryman wheeled his, and shortly after he +had shot the stones out there came a rumbling from below as if the other +barrow had been emptied. The very quarry is pointed out where this +extraordinary phenomenon took place. It is curious how a story of this +kind, something like which is, I think, told of the Hartz Mountains, +should have got localised in a limestone quarry so far apart in distance +and character. How well I remember the ancient labourer who told me +this legend as a boy! It is easy to philosophise on it now, and +speculate upon the genesis of the tale, which may have originated in a +cavernous hollow resounding to the tools; but then it was a reality, and +I recollect always giving a wide berth to that quarry at night. As the +old man told it, it was indeed hardly a legend; for he could disclose +every detail, and what has here occupied a few sentences took him the +best part of an hour to relate. + +Now and then the western clouds after the sunset assume a shape +resembling that of a vast extended wing, as of a gigantic bird in full +flight--the extreme tip nearly reaching the zenith, the body of the bird +just below the horizon. The resemblance is sometimes so perfect that +the layers of feathers are traceable by an imaginative eye. This, the +old folk say, is the wing of the Archangel Michael, and it bodes no good +to the evil ones among the nations, for he is on his way to execute a +dread command. + +Herbs are still believed in implicitly by some. Not long since I met a +labourer, one of the better class too, whom I had known previously, and +now found deeply depressed because of the death of a son. The poor +fellow had had every attention; the clergyman had exerted himself, and +wine and nourishing luxuries had not been spared, nor the best of +medical advice. That he admitted, but still regretted one thing. There +was a herb, which grew beside rivers, and was known to but a few, that +was a certain cure for the kind of wasting disease which had baffled +educated skill. There was an old man living somewhere by a river fifty +miles away, who possessed the secret of this herb, and by it had +accomplished marvellous cures. He had heard of him, but could not by +any inquiry ascertain his exact whereabouts; and so his child died. +Everything possible had been done, but still he regretted that this herb +had not been applied. + +Nothing is done right now, according to the old men of the hamlet; even +the hayricks are built badly and `scamped.' The `rickmaker' used to be +an important person, generally a veteran, who had to be conciliated with +an extra drop of good liquor before he could be got to set to work in +earnest. Then he spread the hay here, and worked it in there, and had +it trodden down at the edge, and then in the middle, and, like the +centurion, sent men hither and thither. His rick, when complete, did +not rise perpendicularly, but each face or square side sloped a little +outwards--including the ends--a method that certainly does give the rick +a very shapely look. + +But now the new-fangled `elevator' carries up the hay by machinery from +the waggon to the top, and two ricks are run up while they would +formerly have just been carefully laying the foundation for one of +faggots to keep off the damp. The poles put up to support the +rick-cloth interfere with the mathematically correct outward slope at +the ends, upon which the old fellow prided himself; so they are carried +up straight like the end wall of a cottage, and are a constant source of +contempt to the ancient invalid. However, he consoles himself with the +reflection that most of the men employed with the `elevator' will +ultimately go to a very unpleasant place, since they are continuously +swearing at the horse that works it, to make him go round the faster. + +After an old cart or waggon has done its work and is broken up, the +wooden axletree, which is very solid, is frequently used for the top bar +of a stile. It answers very well, and, being of seasoned wood that has +received a good many coats of red paint, will last a long time. The +life of a waggon is not unlike that of a ship. On the cradle it is the +pride of the craftsman who builds it, and who is careful to reproduce +the exact `lines' which he learned from his master as an apprentice, and +which have been handed down these hundred years and more. The builders +of the Chinese junks are said never to saw a piece of timber into the +shape required, nor to bend it by softening the fibres by hot steam, but +always use a beam that has grown crooked naturally. This plan gives +great strength, but it must take years to accumulate the necessary +curved trees. The waggon-builder, in like manner, has a whole yard full +of timber selected for much the same reason--because it naturally curves +in the way he desires, or is specially fitted for his purpose. + +For, like a ship, the true old-fashioned waggon is full of curves, and +there is scarcely a straight piece of wood about it. Nothing is angular +or square; and each piece of timber, too, is carved in some degree, +bevelled at the edges, the sharp outline relieved in one way or another, +and the whole structure like a ship, seeming buoyant, and floating as it +were, easily on the wheels. Then the painting takes several weeks, and +after that the lettering of the name; and when at last completed it is +placed outside by the road, that every farmer and labourer who goes by +may pause and admire. In about twelve months, if the builder be +expeditious (for him), the new vessel may reach her port under the open +shed at the farm, and then her life of voyages begins. + +Her cargoes are hay and wheat and huge mountainous loads of straw, and +occasionally hurdles for the shepherd. Nor are her voyages confined to +the narrow seas of the fields adjoining home; now and then she goes on +adventurous expeditions to distant market towns, carrying mayhap a cargo +of oak-bark, stripped from fallen trees, to the tan-yard. Then she is +well victualled for the voyage, and her course mapped out on the chart +in order to avoid the Scylla of steep hills and stony ways and the +Charybdis of tollgates, besides being duly cautioned against the sirens +that chant so sweetly from the taps of the roadside inns. Or she sails +down to the far-away railway station after coal--possibly two or more +vessels in the same convoy--if the steam plough be at work and requires +the constant services of these tenders. + +She has her own special crew--her captain the carter--and for forecastle +men a lad or two, and often a couple of able-bodied seamen in the shape +of labourers, to help to load up. When on the more distant voyages to +unknown shores, she takes a supercargo--the farmer's son--to check the +bills of lading; for on those strange coasts who knows what treachery +there may be brewing? There are arms aboard, in the form of forks or +prongs; and commonly one or more passengers go out in her--women with +vast bundles and children--not to mention the merchandise of sugars and +of teas from Cathay, which are shipped for delivery at half the cottages +and farmsteads _en route_ homewards. Wherefore, you see, the captain +had needs be a sober and godly man, having all these and manifold other +responsibilities upon his mind. + +Besides which he has to make a report upon the state of the crops on +every farm he passes, and what everybody is doing, and if they have +begun reaping; also to hail every vessel he passes outward or homeward +bound, and enter her answers in his log, and to keep his weather-eye +open and a sharp watch to windward, lest storms should arise and awake +the deep, and if the gale increases to batten down his hatches and make +all snug with the tarpaulin. He must bear in mind the longitude of +those ports where there are docks, lest his team should cast a shoe or +any of the running rigging want splicing, or the hull spring a leak--for +the blacksmith's forges are often leagues apart, and he may lose his +certificate if he strands his ship or founders on the open ocean of the +downs. Sometimes, if the currents run unexpectedly strong, and he is +deeply laden, he has to borrow or hire a tug from the nearest farm, +getting an extra horse to pull up the hill. + +When he reaches harbour, and has leave ashore, a jollier seaman never +cracked a whip. Perhaps the happiest time with the ploughboys is when +they are out with the waggon, having a little change, no harder work +than walking, sips at the `pots' handed to the captain by his mates, and +nothing to think about. Nor was there ever a more popular song in the +country than-- + + We'll jump into the waggon, + And we'll all take a ride! + +Though in winter, when the horses' shoes have to be roughed for the +frost, or, worse, when the wheels sink deep into the spongy turf, and +rain and sleet and snow make the decks slippery, it is not quite so +jolly. Yet even then, so strong is the love of motion, a run with the +waggon is preferred to stationary work. + +The captain, when bound on a voyage, generally slips his cable or weighs +anchor with the rising sun. His crew are first-rate helmsmen; and to +see them sweep into the rickyard through the narrow gateway, with a +heavy deck cargo piled to the skies, all sail set, a stiff breeze, and +the timbers creaking, is a glorious sight! Not a scrape against the +jetty, though `touch and go' is the sign of a good pilot. His greatest +trouble is when his cargo shifts out of sight of land: sometimes the +vessel turns on her beam-ends with a too ponderous and ill-built load of +straw, and then the wreck lies right in the fairway of all the ships +coming up the channel. To load a waggon successfully is indeed a work +of art: on the hills where the waggons have to run `sidelong' to pick up +the crops, one side higher than the other, no one but an experienced +hand can make the stuff stay on. Then there is often a tremendous +bumping and scraping of the keel on the rocks of the newly-mended roads, +and the nasty chopping seas of the deep ruts, besides the long regular +Atlantic swells of the furrows and `lands.' So that the cargo had need +to be firmly placed in the hold. + +Every now and then she goes into dock and gets a new streak of paint and +a thorough overhauling. The running rigging of the harness has to be +polished and kept in good condition, and the crew are rarely idle if the +captain knows his business. You should never let your `fo'castle' hands +loll about; the proverb about the devil and the idle hands is +notoriously true aboard ship, and in the stables. + +How many a man's life has centred about the waggon! As a child he rides +in it as a treat to the hay-field with his father; as a lad he walks +beside the leader, and gets his first ideas of the great world when they +visit the market town. As a man he takes command and pilots the ship +for many a long, long year. When he marries, the waggon, lent for his +own use, brings home his furniture. After a while his own children go +for a ride in it, and play in it when stationary in the shed. In the +painful ending the waggon carries the weak-kneed old man in pity to and +from the old town for his weekly store of goods, or mayhap for his +weekly dole of that staff of life his aged teeth can hardly grind. And +many a plain coffin has the old waggon carried to the distant churchyard +on the side of the hill. It is a cold spot--as life, too, was cold and +hard; yet in the spring the daisies will come, and the thrushes will +sing on the bough. + +Built at first of seasoned wood, kept out of the weather under cover, +repainted, and taken care of, the waggon lasts a lifetime. Many times +repaired, the old ship outlasts its owner--his name on it is painted +out. But that step is not taken for years: there seems to be a +superstitious dislike to obliterating the old name, as if the dead would +resent it, and there it often remains till it becomes illegible. +Sometimes the second owner, too, goes, and the name fresh painted is +that of the third. When at last it becomes too shaky for farm use, it +is perhaps bought by some poor working haulier, who has a hole cut in +the bottom with moveable cover, and uses it to bring down flints from +the hills to mend the roads. But if any of the old folk live, they will +not sell the ancient vessel: it stands behind the rickyard under the +elms till the rain rots the upper work, and it is then broken up, and +the axletree becomes the top bar of a stile. + +Each field has its characteristic stile--or rather two, one each side +(at the entrance and exit of the footpath), and these are never alike. +Walking across the fields for a couple of miles or more, of all the +stiles that must of necessity be surmounted no two are similar. Here is +one well put together--not too high, the rail not too large, and +apparently an ideal piece of workmanship; but on approaching, the ground +on the opposite side drops suddenly three or four feet--at the bottom is +a marshy spot crossed by a narrow bridge of a single stone, on which you +have to be careful to alight, or else plunge ankle-deep in water. If +clever enough to drop on the stone, it immediately tilts up slightly, +for, like the rocking-stones of Wales, it is balanced somewhere, and has +a see-saw motion well calculated to land the timid in the ditch. + +The next is approached by a line of stepping-stones--to avoid the mud +and water--whose surfaces are so irregular as barely to afford a +footing. The stile itself is nothing--very low and easy to pass: but +just beyond it a stiff, stout pole has been placed across to prevent +horses straying, and below that a couple of hurdles are pitched to +confine the sheep. This is almost too much; however, by patience and +exertion, it is managed. + +Then comes a double mound with two stiles--one for each ditch--made very +high and intended for steps; but the steps are worn away, and it is +something like climbing a perpendicular ladder. Another has a toprail +of a whole tree, so broad and thick no one can possibly straddle it, so +some friend of humanity has broken the second rail, and you creep under. +Finally comes a steep bank, six or seven feet high, with rude steps +formed of the roots of trees worn bare by iron-tipped boots, and of mere +holes in which to put the toe. At the top the stile leans forward over +the precipice, so that you have to suspend yourself in mid-air. +Fortunately, almost every other one has a gap worn at the side just +large enough to squeeze through after coaxing the briars to yield a +trifle. For it is intensely characteristic of human nature to make gaps +and short cuts. + +All the lads of the hamlet have a trysting-place at the cross-roads, or +rather cross-lanes, where there is often an open waste space and a small +clump of trees. If there is any mischief in the wind, there the council +of war is sure to be held. There is a great rickyard not far distant, +where in one of the open sheds is the thatcher's workshop. + +He is a very pronounced character in his way, with his leathern pads for +the knees that he may be able to bear lengthened contact against the +wooden rungs of the ladder, his little club to drive in the stakes, his +shears to snip off the edges of the straw round the eaves, his iron +needle of gigantic size with which to pass the tar-cord through when +thatching a shed, and his small sharp billhook to split out his +thatching stakes. These are of willow, cut from the pollard trees by +the brook, and he sits on a stool in the shed and splits them into three +or four with the greatest dexterity, giving his billhook a twist this +way and then that, and so guiding the split in the direction required. +Then holding it across his knee, he cuts the point with a couple of +blows and casts the finished stake aside upon the heap. + +A man of no little consequence is the thatcher the most important +perhaps of the hamlet craftsmen. He ornaments the wheat ricks with +curious twisted tufts of straw, standing up not unlike the fantastic +ways in which savages are represented doing their hair. But he does not +put the thatch on the wheat half so substantially as formerly because +now only a few remain the winter--the thatch is often hardly on before +it is off again for the threshing machine--for the `sheening,' as they +call it. On the hayricks, which stand longer, he puts better work, +especially on the southern and western sides or angles, binding it down +with a crosswork of bonds to prevent the gales which blow from those +quarters unroofing the rick. + +It is said to be an ill wind that blows nobody any good: now the wind +never blew that was strong enough to please the thatcher. If the +hurricane roughs up the straw on all the ricks, in the parish, unroofs +half-a-dozen sheds, and does not spare the gables of the +dwelling-houses, why he has work for the next two months. He is +attended by a man to carry up the `yelms,' and two or three women are +busy `yelming'--i.e., separating the straw, selecting the longest and +laying it level and parallel, damping it with water, and preparing it +for the yokes. These yokes must be cut from boughs that have grown +naturally in the shape wanted, else they are not tough enough. A tough +old chap, too, is the thatcher, a man of infinite gossip, well +acquainted with the genealogy of every farmer, and, indeed, of everybody +from Dan to Beersheba, of the parish. + +The memory of the smugglers is not yet quite extinct. The old men will +point out the route they used to follow, and some of the places where +they are said to have stored their contraband goods. Smuggling suggests +the sea, but the goods landed on the beach had afterwards to be conveyed +inland for sale, so that the hamlet, though far distant from the shore, +has its traditions of illicit trade. The route followed was a wild and +unfrequented one, and the smugglers appear to have kept to the downs as +much as possible. More than one family--well-to-do for the hamlet or +village where a small capital goes a long way--are said to have +originally derived their prosperity from assisting the storage or +disposal of smuggled goods; and the sympathies of the hamlet would be +with the smugglers still. + +The old folk, too, talk of having the ague, and say that it was quite +common in their early days; but it is rare to hear of a case now. +Possibly the better drainage of the fields and the better food and +lodging enjoyed by the labourers have something to do with this. There +are, of course, no scientific or precise data for exact comparison; but, +judging from the traditions transmitted down, the hamlet is much more +healthy at the present day than it was in the olden times. + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +THE FARMHOUSE--TRADITIONS--HUNTING PICTURES--THE FARMER'S YEAR--SPORT-- +THE AUCTION FESTIVAL--A SUMMER'S DAY--BEAUTY OF WHEAT. + +The stream, after leaving the village and the washpool, rushes swiftly +down the descending slope, and then entering the meadows, quickly loses +its original impetuous character. Not much more than a mile from the +village it flows placidly through meads and pastures, a broad, deep +brook, thickly fringed with green flags bearing here and there large +yellow flowers. By some old thatched cattle-sheds and rickyards, +overshadowed with elm trees, a strong bay or dam crosses it, forcing the +water into a pond for the cattle, and answering the occasional purpose +of a ford; for the labourers in their heavy boots walk over the bay, +though the current rises to the instep. They call these sheds, some few +hundred yards from the farmhouse, the `Lower Pen.' Wick Farm--almost +every village has its outlying `wick'--stands alone in the fields. It +is an ancient rambling building, the present form of which is the result +of successive additions at different dates, and in various styles. + +When a homestead, like this, has been owned and occupied by the same +family for six or seven generations, it seems to possess a distinct +personality of its own. A history grows up round about it; memories of +the past accumulate, and are handed down fresh and green, linking to-day +and seventy years ago as if hardly any lapse of time had intervened. +The inmates talk familiarly of the `comet year,' as if it were but just +over; of the days when a load of wheat was worth a little fortune; of +the great snows and floods of the previous century. They date events +from the year when the Foremeads were purchased and added to the +patrimony, as if that transaction, which took place ninety years before, +was of such importance that it must necessarily be still known to all +the world. + +The house has somehow shaped and fitted itself to the character of the +dwellers within it: hidden and retired among trees, fresh and green with +cherry and pear against the wall, yet the brown thatch and the old +bricks subdued in tone by the weather. This individuality extends to +the furniture; it is a little stiff and angular, but solid, and there +are nooks and corners--as the window-seat--suggestive of placid repose: +a strange opposite mixture throughout of flowery peace and silence, with +an almost total lack of modern conveniences and appliances of comfort-- +as though the sinewy vigour of the residents disdained artificial ease. + +In the oaken cupboards--not black, but a deep tawny colour with age and +frequent polishing--may be found a few pieces of old china, and on the +table at tea-time, perhaps, other pieces, which a connoisseur would +tremble to see in use, lest a clumsy arm should shatter their fragile +antiquity. Though apparently so little valued, you shall not be able to +buy these things for money--not so much because their artistic beauty is +appreciated, but because of the instinctive clinging to everything old, +characteristic of the place and people. These have been there of old +time: they shall remain still. Somewhere in the cupboards, too, is a +curiously carved piece of iron, to fit into the hand, with a front of +steel before the fingers, like a skeleton rapier guard; it is the +ancient steel with which, and a flint, the tinder and the sulphur match +were ignited. + +Up in the lumber-room are carved oaken bedsteads of unknown age; +linen-presses of black oak with carved panels, and a drawer at the side +for the lavender-bags; a rusty rapier, the point broken off; a flintlock +pistol, the barrel of portentous length, and the butt weighted with a +mace-like knob of metal, wherewith to knock the enemy on the head. An +old yeomanry sabre lies about somewhere, which the good man of the time +wore when he rode in the troop against the rioters in the days of +machine-burning--which was like a civil war in the country, and is yet +recollected and talked of. The present fanner, who is getting just a +trifle heavy in the saddle himself, can tell you the names of labourers +living in the village whose forefathers rose in that insurrection. It +is a memory of the house, how one of the family paid 40 pounds for a +substitute to serve in the wars against the French. + +The mistress of the household still bakes a batch of bread at home in +the oven once now and then, priding herself that it is never `dunch,' or +heavy. She makes all kinds of preserves, and wines too--cowslip, +elderberry, ginger--and used to prepare a specially delicate biscuit, +the paste being dropped on paper and baked by exposure to the sun's rays +only. She has a bitter memory of some money having been lost to the +family sixty years ago through roguery, harping upon it as a most +direful misfortune: the old folk, even those having a stocking or a +teapot well filled with guineas, thought a great deal of small sums. +After listening to a tirade of this kind, in the belief that the family +were at least half-ruined, it turns out to be all about 100 pounds. Her +grandmother after marriage travelled home on horseback behind her +husband; there had been a sudden flood, and the newly-married couple had +to wait for several hours till the waters went down before they could +pass. Times are altered now. + +Since this family dwelt here, and well within what may be called the +household memory, the very races of animals have changed or been +supplanted. The cows in the field used to be longhorns, much more +hardy, and remaining in the meadows all the winter, with no better +shelter than the hedges and bushes afforded. Now the shorthorns have +come, and the cattle are housed carefully. The sheep were horned--up in +the lumber-room two or three horns are still to be found. The pigs were +of a different kind, and the dogs and poultry. If the race of men have +not changed they have altered their costume; the smock-frock lingered +longest, but even that is going. + +Some of the old superstitions hung on till quite recently. The value of +horses made the arrival of foals an important occasion, and then it was +the custom to call in the assistance of an aged man of wisdom--not +exactly a wizard, but something approaching it nearly in reputation. +Even within the last fifteen years the aid of an ancient like this used +to be regularly invoked in this neighbourhood; in some mysterious way +his simple presence and good-will--gained by plentiful liquor--was +supposed to be efficacious against accident and loss. The strangeness +of the business was in the fact that his patrons were not altogether +ignorant or even uneducated--they merely carried on the old custom, not +from faith in it, but just because it was the custom. When the wizard +at last died nothing more was thought about it. Another ancient used to +come round once or twice in the year, with a couple of long ashen +staves, and the ceremony performed by him consisted in dancing these two +sticks together in a fantastic manner to some old rhyme or story. + +The parlour is always full of flowers--the mantelpiece and grate in +spring quite hidden by fresh green boughs of horse-chestnut in bloom, or +with lilac, blue bells, or wild hyacinths; in summer nodding grasses +from the meadows, roses, sweet-briar; in the autumn two or three great +apples, the finest of the year, put as ornaments among the china, and +the corners of the looking-glass decorated with bunches of ripe wheat. +A badger's skin lies across the back of the armchair; a fox's head, the +sharp white tusks showing, snarls over the doorway; and in glass cases +are a couple of stuffed kingfishers, a polecat; a white blackbird, and a +diver--rare here--shot in the mere hard by. + +On the walls are a couple of old hunting pictures, dusky with age, but +the crudity of the colours by no means toned down or their rude contrast +moderated: bright scarlet coats, bright white horses, harsh green grass, +prim dogs, stiff trees, human figures immovable in tight buckskins; +running water hard as glass, the sky fixed, the ground all too small for +the grouping, perspective painfully emphasised, so as to be itself made +visible; the surface everywhere `painty'--in brief, most of the possible +faults compressed together, and proudly fathered by the artist's name in +full. + +One representing a meet, and the other full cry, the pack crossing a +small river; the meet still and rigid, every horseman in his place--not +a bit jingling, or a hoof pawing, or anything in motion. Now the beauty +of the meet, as distinct from a drilled cavalry troop, is its animation: +horses and riders moving here and there, gathering together and +spreading out again, new-comers riding smartly up, in continuous +freshness of grouping, and constant relief to the eye. The other--in +full cry--all polished and smooth and varnished as when they left the +stable; horses with glossy coats, riders upright and fatigueless, dogs +clean, and not a sign of poaching on the turf. The dogs are coming out +of the water with their tails up and straight--dogs as they trail their +flanks out of a brook always, in fact, droop their tails, while their +bodies look smaller and the curves project, because the water lays the +hair flat to the body till several shakes send it out again. Not a +speck on a top-boot, not a coat torn by a thorn, and the horses as plump +as if fresh from their mangers, instead of having worked it down. Not a +fleck of foam; the sun, too, shining, and yet no shadow--all glaring. +And, despite of all, deeply interesting to those who know the +countryside and have a feeling knowledge of its hunting history. + +For the horses are from life, and the men portraits; the very hedges and +brooks faithful--in ground-plan, at least. The costume is true to a +thread, and all the names of the riders and some of the hounds are +written underneath. So that a hunter sees not the crude colour or +faulty drawing, but what it is intended to represent. Under its +harshness there is the poetry of life. But looking at these pictures +the reflection will still arise how few really truthful hunting scenes +we have on canvas in this the country of hunting. The best are so +conventional, and have too much colour. All nature in the season is +toned down and subdued--the gleaming red and bright yellows of the early +autumn leaves soaked and soddened to a dull brown; the sky dark and +louring--if it is bright there is frost; the glossy coat of the horses, +and the scarlet; or what coloured cloth it may be, of the riders +deadened by rain and the dewdrops shaken from the bushes. Think for a +moment of a finish as it is in reality, and not in these gaudy, +brilliant colour-studies. + +A thick mist clings in the hollow there by the osier-bed where the pack +have overtaken the fox, so that you cannot see the dogs. Beyond, the +contour of the hill is lost in the cloud trailing over it; the +foreground towards us shows a sloping ploughed field, a damp brown, with +a thin mist creeping along the cold furrows. Yonder, three vague and +shadowy figures are pushing laboriously forward beside the leafless +hedge; while the dirt-spattered bays hardly show against its black +background and through the mist. Some way behind, a weary grey,--the +only spot of colour, and that dimmed--is gamely struggling--it is not +leaping--through a gap beside a gaunt oak tree, whose dark buff leaves +yet linger. But out of these surely an artist who dared to face Nature +as she is might work a picture. + +The year really commences at Wick farmhouse immediately before the +autumn nominally begins--nominally, because there is generally a sense +of autumn in the atmosphere before the end of September. Just about +that time there comes a slackening of the work requiring earnest +personal supervision. When the yellow corn has been cut and carted, and +the threshing machine has prepared a sample for the markets--when the +ricks are thatched, and the steam plough is tearing up the stubble--then +the farmer can spare a day or so free from the anxieties of harvest. +There is plenty of work to be done; in fact the yearly rotation of +labour may be said to begin in the autumn too, but it does not demand +such hourly attention. It is the season for picnics--while the sun is +yet warm and the sward dry--on the downs among the great hazel copses, +or the old entrenchment with its view over a vast landscape, dimmed, +though, by yellow haze, or by the shallow lake in the vale. + +With the exception of knocking over a young rabbit now and then for +household use, the farmer, even if he is independent of a landlord, as +in this case, does not shoot till late in the year. Old-fashioned folk, +though not in the least constrained to do so, still leave the first pick +of the shooting to some neighbouring landowner between whose family and +their own friendly relations have existed for generations. It is true +that the practice becomes rarer yearly as the old style of men die out +and the spirit of commerce is imported into rural life: the rising race +preferring to make money of their shooting, by letting it, instead of +cultivating social ties. + +At Wick, however, they keep up the ancient custom, and the neighbouring +squire takes the pick of the wing-game. They lose nothing for their +larder through this arrangement--receiving presents of partridges and +pheasants far exceeding in number what could possibly be killed upon the +farm itself; while later in the year the boundaries are relaxed on the +other side, and the farmer kills his rabbit pretty much where he likes, +in moderation. + +He is seldom seen without a gun on his shoulder from November till +towards the end of January. No matter whether he strolls to the arable +field, or down the meadows, or across the footpath to a neighbour's +house, the inevitable double-barrel accompanies him. To those who live +much out of doors a gun is a natural and almost a necessary companion, +whether there be much or little to shoot; and in this desultory way, +without much method or set sport, he and his friends, often meeting and +joining forces, find sufficient ground game and wildfowl to give them +plenty of amusement. When the hedges are bare of leaves the +rabbit-burrows are ferreted: the holes can be more conveniently +approached then, and the frost is supposed to give the rabbit a better +flavour. + +About Christmas-time, half in joke and half in earnest, a small party +often agree to shoot as many blackbirds as they can, if possible to make +up the traditional twenty-four for a pie. The blackbird pie is, of +course, really an occasion for a social gathering, at which cards and +music are forthcoming. Though blackbirds abound in every hedge, it is +by no means an easy task to get the required number just when wanted. +After January the guns are laid aside, though some ferreting is still +going on. + +The better class of farmers keep hunters, and ride constantly to the +hounds; so do some of the lesser men who `make' hunters, and ride not +only for pleasure but possible profit from the sale. Hunting is, to a +considerable extent a matter of locality. In some districts it is the +one great winter amusement, and almost every farmer who has got a horse +rides more or less. In others which are not near the centres of +hunting, it is rather an exception for the farmers to go out. On and +near the Downs coursing hares is much followed. Then towards the +spring, before the grass begins to grow long, comes the local +steeplechase--perhaps the most popular gathering of the year. It is +held near some small town, often rather a large village than a town, +where it would seem impossible to get a hundred people together. But it +happens to be one of the fixed points, so to say, in a wide hunting +district, and is well known to every man who rides a horse within twenty +miles. + +Numerous parties come to the race-ground from the great houses of the +neighbourhood. The labouring people flock there _en masse_; some +farmers lend waggons and teams to the labourers that they may go. An +additional--a personal--interest attaches to many of the races because +the horses are local horses, and the riders known to the spectators. +Some of these meetings are movable; they are held near one town one year +and another the next, so as to travel round the whole hunting district-- +returning, say, the fourth year to the first place. Most of the market +towns of any importance have their annual agricultural show now, which +is well attended. + +In the spring comes the rook-shooting; the date varies a week or so +according to the season, whether it has been mild and favourable or hard +and late. This still remains a favourite occasion for a party. +Sheep-shearing in sheep districts, as the Downs, is also remembered; +some of the old folk make much of it; but as a general rule this ancient +festival has fallen a good deal into disuse. It is not made the grand +feast it once was for master and man alike--at least, not in these +parts. With the change that has come across agriculture at large a +variation has taken place in the life of the people. New festivals, and +of a different character, have sprung up. + +The most important of these is the annual auction on the farm: the +system of selling by auction which has become so widely diffused has, +indeed, quite revolutionised agriculture in many ways. Where the farm +is celebrated for a special breed of sheep, the great event of the year +is the annual auction at home of ram lambs. Where the farm is famous +for cattle, the chief occasion is the yearly sale of young shorthorns. +And recently, since steam plough and artificial manure and general high +pressure have been introduced, many large arable farmers sell their corn +crops standing. The purchaser pays a certain price for the wheat as it +grows, reaps it when ripe, and makes what profit he can. + +In either case the auctioneer is called in, a dinner is prepared, and +everybody who likes to come is welcome. If there happens to be a great +barn near the homestead it is usually used for the dinner. The marquee +has yet to be invented which will keep out a thunderstorm--that common +interruption of country meetings--like an old barn. But barns are not +always available, and a tent is then essential. Though the spot may be +lonely and several miles from a town or station, a large number of +persons are sure to be there; and if it is an auction of sheep or cattle +with a pedigree, many of them will be found to have come from the other +end of the kingdom, and sometimes agents are present from America or the +colonies. Much time is consumed in an examination of the stock, and +then the dinner begins--at least two hours later than was announced. +But this little peculiarity is so well understood by all interested as +to cause no inconvenience. + +Scarcely any ale is to be seen; it is there if asked for; but the great +majority now drink sherry. The way in which this wine has supplanted +the old-fashioned October ale is remarkable, and a noticeable sign of +the times. At home the farmer may still have his foaming jug, but +whenever farmers congregate together on occasions like this, sherry is +the favourite. When calling at the inns in the towns on market days-- +much business is transacted at the inns--spirits are usually taken, so +that ale is no longer the characteristic country liquor. With the +sherry cigars are handed round--another change. It is true the elderly +men stick to their long clay pipes, and it is observable that some of +the younger after a while go back to the yard of clay; but on the whole +the cigar is now the proper thing. + +Then follow a couple of toasts, the stockowner's and auctioneer's-- +usually short--and an adjournment takes place--if it be stock, to the +yards; if corn, the cloth is cleared of all but the wine, and the sale +proceeds there and then. In either case the sherry and the cigars go +round--persons being employed to press them freely upon all; and +altogether a very jovial afternoon is spent. Some of the company do not +separate till long after the conclusion of the sale: the American or +colonial agent perhaps stays a night at the farmstead. In the house +itself there is all this time yet more liberal hospitality proffered: it +is quite open-house hospitality, master and mistress vying in their +efforts to make everyone feel at home. These gatherings do much to +promote a friendly spirit in the neighbourhood. + +In the summer the farmer is too much occupied to think of amusement. It +is a curious fact that very few really downright country people care for +fishing; a gun and a horse are as necessary as air and light but the rod +is not a favourite. There seems to be greater enthusiasm than ever +about horses; whether people bet or not, they talk and think and read +more of horses than they ever did before. + +In this locality Clerk's Ale, which used to be rather an event is quite +extinct. The Court Leet is still held, but partakes slightly of the +nature of a harmless farce. The lord of the manor's court is no terror +now. A number of gentlemen, more for the custom's sake than anything, +sit in solemn conclave to decide whether or no an old pollard tree may +be cut down, how much an old woman shall pay in quit-rent for her hovel, +or whether there was or was not a gateway in a certain hedge seventy +years ago. However, it brings neighbours together, and causes the +inevitable sherry to circulate briskly. + +The long summer days begin very early at Wick. About half-past two of a +morning in June a faint twittering under the eaves announces that the +swallows are awaking, although they will not commence their flight for +awhile yet. At three o'clock the cuckoo's call comes up from the +distant meadows, together with the sound of the mower sharpening his +scythe, for he likes to work while the dew is heavy on the grass, both +for coolness and because it cuts better. He gets half a day's work done +before the sun grows hot, and about eight or nine o'clock lies down +under the hedge for a refreshing nap. Between three and four the +thrushes open song in the copse at the corner of the Home-field, and +soon a loud chorus takes up their ditty as one after the other joins in. + +Then the nailed shoes of the milkers clatter on the pitching of the +courtyard as they come for their buckets; and immediately afterwards +stentorian voices may be heard in the fields bellowing `Coom up! +ya-hoop!' to which the cows, recognising the well-known call, respond +very much in the same tones. Slowly they obey and gather together under +the elms in the corner of the meadow, which in summer is used as the +milking-place. About five or half-past another clattering tells of the +milkers' return; and then the dairy is in full operation. The household +breakfasts at half-past six or thereabouts, and while breakfast is going +on the heavy tramp of feet may be heard passing along the roadway +through the rickyard--the haymakers marching to the fields. For the +next two hours or so the sounds from the dairy are the only interruption +of the silence: then come the first waggons loaded with hay, jolting and +creaking, the carter's lads shouting, `Woaght!' to the horses as they +steer through the gateway and sweep round, drawing up under the rick. + +Between eleven and twelve the waggons cease to arrive--it is luncheon +time: the exact time for luncheon varies a quarter of an hour or twenty +minutes, or more, according to the state of the work. Messengers come +home for cans of beer, and carry out also to the field wooden +`bottles'--small barrels holding a gallon or two. After a short +interval work goes on again till nearly four o'clock, when it is +dinner-time. One or two labourers, deputed by the rest and having leave +and licence so to do, enter the farmhouse garden and pull up bundles of +onions, lettuces, or radishes--sown over wide areas on purpose--and +carry them out to the cart-house, or where-ever the men may be. If far +from home, the women often boil a kettle for tea under the hedge, +collecting dead sticks fallen from the trees. At six o'clock work is +over: the women are allowed to leave half an hour or so previously, that +they may prepare their husbands' suppers. + +As the sunset approaches the long broad dusty road loses its white +glare, and yonder by the hamlet a bright glistening banner reflects the +level rays of the sun with dazzling sheen; it is the gilding on the +swinging wayside sign transformed for the moment from a wooden board +rudely ornamented with a gilt sun, all rays and rotund cheeks, into a +veritable oriflamme. + +There the men will assemble by-and-by, on the forms about the trestle +table, and share each other's quarts in the fellowship of labour. Or +perhaps the work may be pressing, and the waggons are loaded till the +white owl noiselessly flits along the hedgerow, and the round moon rises +over the hills. Then those who have stayed to assist find their supper +waiting for them in the brewhouse, and do it ample justice. + +Once during the morning, while busy in the hay-field, not so much with +his hands as his eyes, watching that the `wallows' may be turned over +properly, and the `wakes' made at a just distance from each other, that +the waggon may pass easily between, the farmer is sure to be summoned +home with the news of a swarm of bees. If the work be pressing, they +must be attended to by deputy; if not, he hurries home himself; for +although in these days bee-keeping is no longer what it used to be, yet +the old-fashioned folk take a deep interest in the bees still. They +tell you that `a swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is +worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly'--for it is +then too late for the young colony to store up a treasure of golden +honey before the flowers begin to fade at the approach of autumn. + +It is noticeable that those who labour on their own land (as at Wick) +keep up the ancient customs much more vigorously than the tenant who +knows that he is liable to receive a notice to quit. And farms, for one +reason or another, change tenants much more frequently now than they +used to do. Here at Wick the owner feels that every apple tree he +grafts, every flower he plants, returns not only a money value, but a +joy not to be measured by money. So the bees are carefully watched and +tended, as the blue tomtits find to their cost if they become too +venturesome. + +These bold little bandits will sometimes make a dash for the hive, +alighting on the miniature platform before the entrance, and playing +havoc with the busy inmates. If alarmed they take refuge in the apple +trees, as if conscious that the owner will not shoot them there, since +every pellet may destroy potential fruit by cutting and breaking those +tender twigs on which it would presently grow. It is a pleasant sight +in autumn to see the room devoted to the honey--great broad milk-tins +full to the brim of the translucent liquid, distilling slowly from pure +white comb, from the top of whose cells the waxen covering has been +removed. + +All the summer through fresh beauties, indeed, wait upon the owner's +footsteps. In the spring the mowing grass rises thick, strong, and +richly green, or hidden by the cloth-of-gold thrown over it by the +buttercups! He knows when it is ready for the scythe without reference +to the almanac, because of the brown tint which spreads over it from the +ripening seeds, sometimes tinged with a dull red, when the stems of the +sorrel are plentiful. At first the aftermath has a trace of yellow, as +if it were fading; but a shower falls, and fresh green blades shoot up. +Or, passing from the hollow meads up on the rising slopes where the +plough rules the earth, what so beautiful to watch as the wheat through +its various phases of colour? + +First green and succulent; then, presently, see a modest ear comes forth +with promise of the future. By-and-by, when every stalk is tipped like +a sceptre, the lower stalk leaves are still green, but the stems have a +faint bluish tinge, and the ears are paling into yellow. Next the white +pollen--the bloom--shows under the warm sunshine, and then the birds +begin to grow busy among it. They perch on the stalk itself--it is at +that time strong and stiff enough to uphold their weight, one on a +stem--but not now for mischief. You may see the sparrow carry away with +him caterpillars for his young upon the housetop hard by; later on, it +is true, he will revel on the ripe grains. + +Yesterday you came to the wheat and found it pale like this (it seems +but twenty-four hours ago--it is really only a little longer); to-day, +when you look again, lo! there is a fleeting yellow already on the ears. +They have so quickly caught the hue of the bright sunshine pouring on +them. Yet another day or two, and the faint fleeting yellow has become +fixed and certain, as the colours are deepened by the great artist. +Only when the wind blows and the ears bend in those places where the +breeze takes most; it looks paler because the under part of the ear is +shown and part of the stalk. Finally comes that rich hue for which no +exact similitude exists. In it there is somewhat of the red of the +orange, somewhat of the tint of bronze, and somewhat of the hue of +maize; but these are poor words wherewith to render fixed a colour that +plays over the surface of this yellow sea, for if you take one, two, or +a dozen ears you shall not find it, but must look abroad, and let your +gaze travel to and fro. Nor is every field alike; here are acres and +acres more yellow, yonder a space whiter, beyond that a slope richly +ruddy, according to the kind of seed that was sown. + +Out of the depths of what to it must seem an impenetrable jungle, from +visiting a flower hidden below, a humble-bee climbs rapidly up a stalk a +yard or two away while you look, and mounting to the top of the ear, as +a post of vantage clear of obstructions, sails away upon the wind. + +"We be all jolly vellers what vollers th' plough!"--but not to listen +to, and take literally according to the letter of the discourse. It +runs something like this the seasons through as the weather changes: +"Terrible dry weather this here to be sure; we got so much work to do uz +can't get drough it. The fly be swarming in the turmots--the smut be on +the wheat--the wuts be amazing weak in the straw. Got a fine crop of +wheat this year, and prices be low, so uz had better drow it to th' +pigs. Last year uz had no wheat fit to speak on, and prices was high. +Drot this here wet weather! the osses be all in the stable eating their +heads off, and the chaps be all idling about and can't do no work: a +pretty penny for wages and not a job done. Them summer ricks be all +rotten at bottom. The ploughing engine be stuck fast up to the axle, +the land be so soft and squishey. Us never gets no good old frosts now, +like they used to have. Drot these here frosty mornings! a-cutting up +everything. There'll be another rate out soon, a' reckon. Us had +better give up this here trade, neighbour!" + +And so on for a thousand and one grumbles, fitting into every possible +condition of things, which must not, however, be taken too seriously; +for of all other men the farmer is the most deeply attached to the +labour by which he lives, and loves the earth on which he walks like a +true autochthon. He will not leave it unless he is suffering severely. + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +BIRDS OF THE FARMHOUSE--SPEECH OF A STARLING--POPULATION OF A GABLE--THE +KING OF THE HEDGE--THE THRUSHES' ANVIL. + +Wick farmhouse is thatched, and has many gables hidden with ivy. In +these broad expanses of thatch, on the great `chimney-tuns' as country +folk call them, and in the ivy, tribes of birds have taken up their +residence. The thatch has grown so thick in the course of years by the +addition of fresh coats that it projects far from the walls and forms +wide, far-reaching eaves. Over the cellar the roof descends within +three or four feet of the ground, the wall being low, and the eaves here +cast a shadow with the sun nearly at the zenith. + +On the higher parts of the roof, especially round the chimneys, the +starlings have made their holes, and in the early summer are +continuously flying to and fro their young, who never cease crying form +food the whole day through. A tall ash tree stands in the hedgerow, +about fifty yards from the house. On this tree, which is detached, so +that they can see all round, the starlings perch before they come to the +roof, as if to reconnoitre and to exchange pourparlers with their +friends already on the roof; for if ever birds talk together starlings +do. Many birds utter the same notes over and over again; others sit on +a branch and sing the same song, as the thrush; but the starling has a +whole syllabary of his own, every note of which evidently has its +meaning, and can be varied and accented at pleasure. + +His whistle ranges from a shrill, piercing treble to a low, hollow bass; +he runs a complete gamut, with `shakes,' trills, tremulous vibrations, +every possible variation. He intersperses a peculiar clucking sound, +which seems to come from the depths of his breast, fluttering his wings +all the while against his sides as he stands bolt upright on the edge of +the chimney. Other birds seem to sing for the pure pleasure of singing, +shedding their notes broadcast, or at most they are meant for a mate +hidden in the bush. The starling addresses himself direct to his +fellows: I think I may say he never sings when alone, without a +companion in sight. He literally speaks to his fellows. I am persuaded +you may almost follow the dialogue and guess the tenor of the discourse. + +A starling is on the chimney-top; yonder on the ash tree are four or +five of his acquaintance. Suddenly he begins to pour forth a flood of +eloquence--facing them as he speaks: Will they come with him down to the +field where the cows are grazing? There will be sure to be plenty of +insects settling on the grass round the cows, and every now and then +they tear up the herbage by the roots and expose creeping things. +"Come," you may hear him say, modulating his tones to persuasion, "come +quickly; you see it is a fresh piece of grass into which the cows have +been turned only a few hours since; it was too long for us before, but +where they have eaten we can get at the ground comfortably. The +water-wagtail is there already; he always accompanies the herd, and will +have the pick and choice of everything. Or what do you say to the +meadow by the brook? The mowers have begun, and the swathe has fallen +before their scythes; there are acres of ground there which we could not +touch for weeks; now it is open, and the place is teeming with good +food. The finches are there as busy as may be between the swathes-- +chaffinch and greenfinch, hedge-sparrow, thrushes, and blackbirds too. +Are you afraid? Why, no one shoots in the middle of a summer's day. +Still irresolute? (with an angry shrillness). Will you or will you +not? (a sharp short whistle of interrogation). You are simply idiots +(finishing with a scream of abuse). I'm off!" + +Seeing him start, the rest follow at once, jealous lest he should enjoy +these pleasures alone. As he flies every few minutes he closes his +wings, so that for half a dozen yards he shoots like an arrow through +the air; then rapidly uses them, and again closes and shoots forward, +all the timekeeping a level straight course; going direct to his object. + +The starlings that breed in the roof, though they leave the place later +on and congregate in flocks roosting in trees, still come back now and +then to revisit their homes, especially as the new year opens, when they +alight on the house frequently and consult on the approaching important +period of nesting. If you should be sitting near a window close under +the roof where they are busy, reading a book, with the summer sunshine +streaming in, now and then a flash like lightning will pass across the +page. It is a starling rapidly vibrating his wings before he perches on +the thatch; the swift succession of light and shadow as the wings +intercept the rays of the sun causes an impression on the eye like that +left by a flash of lightning. They are beautiful birds: on their +plumage, when seen quite close, the light plays in iridescent gleams. + +Upon the roof of the old farmstead, too, the chirp of the sparrow never +ceases the livelong day. It is amusing to see these birds in the +nesting season carrying up long straws--towing their burden through the +air with evident labour--or feathers. These they sometimes drop just as +they arrive at their destination. Eager to utter a chirp to their +mates, they open their beaks, and away floats the feather, but they +catch it again before it reaches the ground. Fluffy feathers are great +favourites. The fowls, as they fly up to roost on the beams in the +sheds, beat out feathers from their clumsy wings; these lie scattered on +the ground, marking the spot. These roosting-places are magazines from +which the small birds draw their supplies for domestic purposes. The +sparrows have their nests in lesser holes in the thatch: sometimes they +use a swallow's nest built of mortar under the eaves, to which the +owners have not returned. + +The older folk still retain some faint superstitions about swallows, +looking upon them as semi-consecrated and not to be killed or interfered +with. They will not have their nests knocked down. If they do not +return to the eaves but desert their nests it is a sign of misfortune +impending over the household. So, too, if the rooks quit the rookery or +the colonies of bees in the hives on the sunny side of the orchard decay +and do not swarm, but seem to die off, it is an evil omen. If at night +a bird flutters against the window-pane in the darkness--as they will +sometimes in a great storm of wind, driven, perhaps, from their +roosting-places by the breaking of the boughs, and attracted by a light +within--the knocking of their wings betokens that something sad is about +to happen. If an invalid asks for a pigeon--taking a fancy to a dish of +pigeons to eat--it is a sign either of coming dissolution or of extreme +illness. + +But the swallows rarely fail to come in the spring, and soon begin to +repair their nests or build new ones with mortar from the roads; a rainy +day is very useful to them, and they alight at the edge of the puddles, +finding the mud already mixed and tempered for them there. In such +weather they will fly backwards and forwards by the side of a hedge for +a length of time, skimming just above the grass, when, looking down on +them instead of up at them, the white bar across the lower part of the +body just before the tail forks is very noticeable. The darker feathers +have a glossy bluish tinge on the black. They seem fond of flying round +and near horses and cattle, as if insects were more numerous near +animals. While driving on a sultry day I have watched a swallow follow +the horse for a mile or more. + +It is a pleasant sight to watch them gliding just above the surface of +smooth water, dipping every now and then. Once, while observing some +swallows flying over a lake, on a windy day, when there were waves of +some size, I saw a swallow struck by the crest of a wave and +overwhelmed. It was about twenty yards from a lee shore, and the bird +floated on the water, rising and sinking with the waves till they threw +it on the bank. It was much exhausted, but when placed on a stone in +the warm sunshine soon recovered and flew off. + +As another proof that quick as they are on the wing, they do not always +judge their position or course precisely, I know a case where a swallow, +in less than ten yards after leaving her nest under the eaves of a +house, flew with great force against a door in the garden wall painted a +dull blue. The beak was partly broken and the bird completely stunned: +she died in a few minutes. There was some one in the garden close by at +the time: his presence may have frightened the swallow; yet they are not +usually timid where their nests are undisturbed. Perhaps in her hurry +the dull blue colour of the gate may have deceived her sight; but she +must have travelled that way a hundred times before. + +Swallows frequently come down the great chimneys at the farmhouse and +are found in the rooms, but are always allowed to escape from the +window. Swallows are said not to perch; but I have seen them repeatedly +perch on those sticks which, where the thatch has somewhat decayed, +project a few inches above the roof-tree. Sometimes a row of half a +dozen may be observed settled on the roof here. You may see them, too, +perch on the topmost boughs of the tall damson trees in the orchard; and +again, later in the autumn, after nesting is over, they assemble in +hundreds--one might almost say thousands--in the withy bed by the brook, +settling on the slender willow wands. There they twitter together for +an hour or more every evening. They can rise without the slightest +difficulty from the ground, if it is level and not encumbered with +grass, as from the surface of the roads. On dull cold days they settle +on the house more frequently than when it is bright and sunny. + +At one end of the farmhouse, which is an irregular building, there is a +quiet gable, and in it a casement arched over by the thatch, and shaded +by a thick growth of ivy. The casement is low, and not more than eight +or nine feet from the ground; the ivy has climbed the wall, it has +spread too over the massive wall of the garden which just there abuts +upon the house, so that there is a secluded corner formed by the angle. +Here some time ago a number of logs of timber--oak, such as are sawn up +into posts for field gateways--were left leaning half against the garden +wall, half against the house, just under the window. There they have +remained (there is never any hurry about things in the country) so long +that the moss has begun to encase the lower portions. What with the +projecting thatch, the thick ivy, the timber thrown carelessly beneath, +the lichen-grown garden wall, and a large bush of lilac in the angle, +the place could hardly be more quiet, and is consequently a favourite +resort of the birds. + +Within reach from the window the swallows have their nests, and the +sparrows their holes, on the right hand; within reach on the left hand, +among the ivy, the water-wagtail has built her nest year after year. +The wagtail may always be seen about the place--now in the cow-yards +among the cattle, now in the rickyard, and even close to the door of the +dwelling-house, especially frequenting the courtyard in front of the +dairy. As he flies he rises up and then sinks again, in a succession of +undulations, now spreading the tail out and now closing it. On the +ground he generally alights near water; he is continually jerking the +tail up and down. + +One spring a cuckoo came to this nest in the ivy close to the casement; +she was seen flying near the house several times, and, being observed to +visit the ivy-covered gable, was finally traced to the wagtail's nest. +For several days in succession, and several times a day, the cuckoo +came, and would doubtless have left an egg had not she been shot by a +person who wanted a cuckoo to stuff. + +It is difficult to understand upon what principle the cuckoo selected a +nest thus placed. The ordinary considerations put forward as guiding +birds and animals in their actions quite fail. Instinct would scarcely +choose a spot so close to a house--actually on it; the desire of safety +would not lead to it either, nor the idea of concealment. She might, no +doubt, have found nests enough at a distance from houses, and much more +likely to escape observation. Was there any kind of feeling that this +particular wagtail was more likely to take care of the offspring than +others? + +I doubt the cuckoo's alleged total indifference to her young. They +certainly linger in the neighbourhood of the nests which they have +selected to deposit their eggs in. On another occasion a cuckoo used a +wagtail's nest in a different part of the garden here--in some ivy that +had grown round the decaying stump of an old fir tree. This bird was +watched, but not interfered with; she came repeatedly, and was seen on +the nest, and the egg observed. Afterwards a cuckoo sang continuously +day after day on an ash tree close to the garden. + +Lower down in the ivy, behind the logs of timber under the casement, the +hedge-sparrow builds every year; and on the wood itself where the trunks +formed a little recess was a robin's nest. The hedge-sparrow, unlike +his noisy namesake, is one of the quietest of birds: he slips about in +the hedges and bushes all round the garden so quietly and unobtrusively +that unless you watch carefully you will not see him. Yet he does not +seem shy, and if you sit still will come along the hawthorn within a +yard. + +In the thatch--under the eaves of the cellar, which are not more than +four feet from the ground and come up to the ivy of the gable--the wren +has a nest. Some birds seem always to make their nests in one +particular kind of way, and generally in the same kind of tree or bush; +robins, house-sparrows, and starlings, on the other hand, adjust their +nests to all sorts of places. + +The window of a room in which I used to sleep overlooked the orchard, +and there was a pear tree trained against the wall, some of the boughs +of which came up to the window-sill. This pear tree acted as a ladder, +up which the birds came. Pear trees are a good deal frequented by many +birds; their rough bark seems to shelter numerous insects. The window +was left open all night in the sultry summer weather, and presently a +robin began to come in very early in the morning. Encouraged by finding +that no one disturbed him, at last he grew bold enough to perch morning +after morning on the rail at the foot of my bed. First he seemed to +examine the inside of the window, then went on the floor, and, after a +good look round, finally finished by sitting on the wooden framework for +a few minutes before departing. + +This went on some time; then a wren came too; she likewise looked to see +if anything edible could be found in the window first. Old-fashioned +windows often have a broad sill inside--the window frame being placed +nearly at the outer edge of the wall, so that the thickness of the wall +forms a recess, which is lined with board along the bottom. Now this +wooden lining was decayed and drilled with innumerable holes by boring +insects, which threw up tiny heaps of sawdust, as one might say, just as +moles throw up mounds of earth where they tunnel. Perhaps these formed +an attraction to the wren. She also frequently visited an old-fashioned +bookcase, on the top of which--it was very low--I often left some old +worm-eaten folios and quartos, and may have occasionally picked up +something there. Once only she ventured to the foot of the bed. After +leaving the room she always perched on a thin iron projection which held +the window open, and uttered her singularly loud notes, their metallic +clearness seeming to make the chamber ring. Starlings often perched on +the same iron slide, and sparrows continually; but only the robin and +wren came inside. Tomtits occasionally entered and explored the same +board-lining of the window, but no farther. They will, however, +sometimes explore a room. + +I know a parlour the window of which was partly overhung by a similar +pear tree, besides which there were some shrubs just outside, and into +this room, being quiet and little used, the tomtits ventured every now +and then. I fancy the placing of flowers in vases, on the table or on +the mantelpiece attracts birds to rooms, if they are still. Insects +visit the flowers; birds look for the insects: and this room generally +abounded with cut flowers. Entering it suddenly one day, a tomtit flew +from side to side in great agitation, and then dropped on the floor and +allowed me to pick it up without an effort to escape. The bird had +swooned from fright, and was quite helpless--the eyes closed. On being +placed outside the window, in five minutes it came to itself and flew +off feebly. In this way birds may frequently become a prey to cats and +hawks when to all appearance they might easily escape--becoming so +overwhelmed with alarm as to lose the power of motion. + +The robin is a most pugnacious creature. He will fight furiously with a +rival; in fact, he never misses an opportunity of fighting. But he +always chooses the very early morning for these encounters, and so +escapes suspicion, except, of course, from people who rise early too. +It is even said that the young cock robins, when they are full-grown, +turn round on their own parents and fight with them vigorously. Neither +is he a favourite with the upper class of cottagers--for there is an +`upper ten' even among cottagers--who have large fruit-gardens. In +these they grow quantities of currants for preserving purposes. The +robin is accused of being a terrible thief of currants, and meets with +scant mercy. + +Sometimes while walking slowly along the footpath in a lane with hedges +each side a robin will dart out of the hawthorn and pick up a worm or +grub almost under your feet; then in his alarm at your presence drop it, +and rush back in a flutter. Other birds will do the same thing, from +which it would seem that the old saying that the eye sees what it comes +to see is as applicable to them as to human beings. Their eyes, ever on +the watch for food, instantly detect a tiny creeping thing several yards +distant, though concealed by grass; but the comparatively immense bulk +of a man appears to escape notice till they fly almost up against it. + +I fancy that the hive-bee and some kindred insects have a special +faculty of seeing colour at a distance, and that colours attract them. +It can hardly be scent, because when flowers are placed in a room and +the window left open the wind generally blows strongly into the +apartment, and odours will not travel against a breeze. It seems +natural that in both cases the continual watch for certain things should +enable bird and insect to observe the faintest indication. Slugs, +caterpillars, and such creatures, too, in moving among the grass, cause +a slight agitation of the grass-blades; they lift up a leaf by crawling +under it, or depress it with their weight by getting on it. This may +enable the bird to detect their presence, even when quite hidden by the +herbage, experience having taught it that when grass is moved by the +wind broad patches sway simultaneously, but when an insect or +caterpillar is the agent only a single leaf or blade is stirred. + +At the farmhouse here, robins, wrens, and tomtits are always hanging +about the courtyard, especially close to the dairy, where one or other +may be constantly seen perched on the palings; neither do they scruple +to enter the dairy, the brewhouse, or wood-house adjacent, when they see +a chance. The logs (for fuel) stored in the latter doubtless afford +them insects from under the dead bark. + +Among the most constant residents in the garden at Wick Farm are the +song thrushes. They are the tamest of the larger birds; they come every +morning right under the old bay-window of the sitting-room on the shady +side of the house, where the musk-plant has spread abroad and covered +the stone-pitching for many yards, except just a narrow path paved with +broad flagstones. The musk finds root in every interstice of the +pitching, but cannot push up through the solid flat flags; a fungus, +however, has attempted even that, and has succeeded in forcing a great +stone, weighing perhaps fifteen or twenty pounds, from its bed, so that +instead of being level it forms an inclined plane. The carpet of musk +yields a pleasant odour; in one corner, too, the `monkey-plant' grows +luxuriously, and the grass of the green or lawn is for ever trying to +encroach upon the paving. In the centre of the green is a bed of +gooseberries and a cherry tree; and though the fruit is so close to the +window, both thrush and blackbird make as free with it as if it was in +the hedgerow. + +The thrush, when he wishes to approach the house, flies first to the +cover of these gooseberries; then, after reconnoitring a few minutes, +comes out on the green and gradually works his way across it to the +stone-pitching, and so along under the very window. The blackbird comes +almost as often to the lawn, but it is in a different way. His manner +is that of a bold marauder, conscious that he has no right, and aware +that a shot from an ambuscade may lay him low, but defiantly risking the +danger. He perches first on a bush, or on the garden wall, under the +sheltering boughs of the lime trees, at a distance of some twenty yards; +then, waiting till all is clear, he makes a desperate rush for the fruit +trees or the lawn. The moment he has succeeded in violently seizing +some delicious morsel off he goes, uttering a loud chuckle--half as a +challenge, half as a vent for his pent-up anxiety. + +This peculiar chuckle is so well known by all the other birds as a note +of alarm that every one in the garden immediately move; his position, if +only a yard or two. When you are stealing down the side of the +hedgerow, endeavouring to get near enough to observe the woodpecker in a +tree, or with a gun to shoot a pigeon, the great anxiety is lest you +startle a blackbird. If he thinks you have not seen him, he is cunning +enough to slip out the other side noiselessly and fly down beside the +hedge just above the ground for some distance. He then crosses the +field to a hedge on the other side, and, just as he safely lands himself +in a thick hawthorn bush a hundred yards away, defiantly utters his cry. +The pigeon or the woodpecker will instantly glance round; but, the cry +being at a distance, if you keep still a minute or two they will resume +their occupation. But if you should disturb the blackbird on the side +of the bank next you, where he knows you must have seen or heard him, or +if he is obliged to come out on your side of the hedge, then he makes +the meadow ring with his alarm-note, and immediately away goes pigeon or +woodpecker, thrushes fly further down the hedge, and the rabbits feeding +in the grass lift up their heads and, seeing you, rush to their burrows. +In this way the blackbird acts as a general sentinel. + +He has two variations of this cry. One he uses when just about to +change his feeding ground and visit another favourite corner across the +field; it is as much as to say, "Take notice, all you menials; I, the +king of the hedge, am coming." The other is a warning, and will very +often set two or three other blackbirds calling in the same way, whose +existence till then was unsuspected. These calls are quite distinct +from his song. + +Sometimes, when sitting on a rail in the shade of a great bush--a rail +placed to close a gap--I have had a blackbird come across the meadow and +perch just above my head. Till the moment of alighting he was ignorant +of my presence, and for a second the extremity of his astonishment +literally held him speechless at his own temerity. The next--what an +outcry and furious bustle of excitement to escape! So in the garden +here he makes a desperate rush, seizes his prey, and off again twenty or +thirty yards, exhibiting an amusing mixture of courage and timidity. +This process he will repeat fifty times a day. No matter how terribly +frightened, his assurance quickly returns, and another foray follows; so +that you begin by thinking him the most cowardly and end by finding him +the most impudent of birds. + +I own I love the blackbird, and never weary of observing him. There is +a bold English independence about him--an insolent consciousness of his +own beauty. He must somehow have read Shakespeare, for he seems quite +aware of his `orange-tawny bill' and deep black hue. He might really +know that he figures in a famous ballad, and that four-and-twenty of his +species were considered a dish to set before a king. + +It is a sight to see him take his bath. In a meadow not far from the +house here is a shallow but clear streamlet, running down a deep broad +ditch overshadowed by tall hemlock and clogweed, arched over with +willow, whose leaves when the wind blows and their under-side is exposed +give the hedge a grey tint, with maple and briar. Hide yourself here on +a summer morning among the dry grass and bushes, and presently the +blackbird comes to stand a minute on a stone which checks the tiny +stream like a miniature rock, and then to splash the clear water +overhead and back with immense energy. He repeats this several times, +and immediately afterwards flies to an adjacent rail, where, unfettered +by boughs, he can preen his feathers, going through his toilet with the +air of a prince. Finally, he perks his tail up, and challenges the +world with the call already mentioned, which seems now to mean, "Come +and see Me; am I not handsome?" + +On a warm June day, when the hedges are covered with roses and the air +is sweet with the odour of mown grass, it is pleasant to listen to the +blackbirds in the oaks pouring forth their rich liquid notes. There is +no note so sweet and deep and melodious as that of the blackbird to be +heard in our fields; it is even richer than the nightingale's, though +not so varied. Just before noonday--between eleven and twelve--when the +heat increases, he leaves the low thick bushes and moist ditches and +mounts up into an oak tree, where, on a branch, he sits and sings. Then +another at a distance takes up the burden, till by-and-by, as you +listen, partly hidden in a gateway, four or five are thus engaged in the +trees of a single meadow. + +He sings in a quiet, leisurely way, as a great artist should--there is +no haste, no notes thickening on notes in swift crescendo. His voice +(so to speak) drops from him, without an effort, and is so clear that it +may be heard at a long distance. It is not a set song; perhaps, in +strict language, it is hardly a song at all, but rather a succession of +detached notes with intervals between. Except when singing, the +blackbird does not often frequent trees; he is a hedge-bird, though +sometimes when you are looking at a field of green corn or beans one +will rise out of it and fly to a tree--a solitary tree such as is +sometimes seen in the midst of an arable field. At Wick Farm, sitting +in the cool parlour, or in the garden under the shade of the trees, you +may hear him almost every morning in the meadows that come right up to +the orchard hedge. That hedge is his favourite approach to the garden: +he flies to it first, and gradually works his way along under cover till +nearer the cultivated beds. Both blackbird and thrush are particularly +fond of visiting a patch of cabbages in a shady, quiet corner: there are +generally two or three there after the worms and caterpillars, and so +forth. + +The thrushes build in the garden in several places, especially in an +ivy-hidden arbour--a wooden frame completely covered with ivy and +creeping flowers. Close by is a thick box-hedge, six feet high and +nearly as much through, and behind this is a low-thatched tool-house, +where spades, moletraps, scythes, reaping-hooks, and other implements +are kept. Here lies a sarsen-stone, hard as iron, about a foot thick, +the top of which chances to be smooth and level. This is the thrush's +favourite anvil. + +He searches about under the ivy, under which the snails hide in their +shells in the heat of the day, and brings them forth into the light. +The shell is too large for his beak to hold it pincer-fashion, but at +the entrance--the snail's doorway--he can thrust his bill in, and woe +then to the miserable occupant! With a hop and flutter the thrush +mounts the stone anvil, and there destroys his victim in workmanlike +style. Up goes his head, lifting the snail high in the air, and then, +smash! the shell comes down on the stone with all the force he can use. +About two such blows break the shell, and he then coolly chips the +fragments off as you might from an egg, and makes very few mouthfuls of +the contents. On the stone and round about it lie the fragments of many +such shells--relics of former feasts. Sometimes he will do this close +to the bay-window--if all is quiet--using the stone-flags for an anvil, +if he chances to find a snail hard by; but he prefers the recess behind +the box-hedge. The thrushes seem half-domesticated here; they are tame, +too, in the hedges, and will sit and sing on a bough overhead without +fear while you wait for a rabbit on the bank beneath. + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE ORCHARD--EMIGRANT MARTINS--THE MISSEL-THRUSH--CARAVAN ROUTE OF BIRDS +AND ANIMALS--A FOX IN AMBUSH--A SNAKE IN A CLOCK. + +Broad green paths, wide enough for three or four to walk abreast, lead +from the garden at Wick into the orchard. On the side next the meadows +the orchard is enclosed by a hawthorn hedge, thick from constant +cropping; on the other a solid stone wall, about nine feet high, parts +it from the road. One summer day a party of martins attacked this wall +outside, and endeavoured to make their nest-holes in it. These birds +are called by the labourers `quar-martins,' because they breed in holes +drilled in the face of the sandy precipices of quarries. The boys +`draw' their nests--climbing up at the risk of their limbs--by inserting +a long briar, and, when they feel the nest, giving it a twist which +causes the hooked prickles of the stick to take firm hold, and the nest +is then dragged bodily out. The flight that came to the orchard wall +numbered about ten or twelve, and for the best part of the day they +remained there, working their very hardest at the mortar between the +stones. + +The wall being old, some of the mortar had crumbled--it was not of the +best quality--and here and there was a small cavity. These a portion of +the birds tried to enlarge, while others boldly laboured in places where +no such slight openings existed. It was interesting to watch their +patient efforts as they clung to the perpendicular wall like bats. Now, +two or three flew off and described a few circles in the air, as if to +rest themselves, and then again returned to work. At last, convinced of +the impossibility of penetrating the mortar, which was much harder +beneath the surface, they went away in a body with a general twitter, +leaving distinct marks of their shallow excavations. The circumstance +was the more interesting because the road was much-frequented (for a +rural district) and many people stopped to look at them; but the birds +did not seem in the least alarmed, and evidently only left because they +found the wall impenetrable. Instinct, infallible instinct, certainly +would not direct these birds to such an unsuitable spot. Neither was +there any peculiar advantage to attract them; it was not quiet or +retired, but the reverse. The incident was clearly an experiment, and +when they found it unsuccessful they desisted. + +If we suppose this flight of martins to represent a party emigrating +from a sand quarry (there were three such quarries within a mile +radius), where the population had overflowed, it seems possible to trace +the motive which animated them. I imagine that the old birds drive the +young ones away, when the young return to this country with their +parents after the annual migration. This is particularly the case after +a very favourable breeding season, when more than the usual proportion +of young birds survive. After such a season, upon returning next year +to the sand quarry, the older birds drive off the younger; and if these +are so numerous that they cannot find room in another part of the +quarry, they emigrate in small parties. + +I think the same thing happens with rooks. The older rooks will only +permit a few of their last year's offspring to build near them. If a +gentleman has an avenue of fine elm trees in which he desires to have a +rookery, but cannot contrive to attract them, though perhaps now and +then a nest is partly built and then deserted, an experiment founded on +this idea might be tried. It would be necessary to ask the assistance +of the proprietors of the nearest rookeries, and beg them for one year +to refrain from shooting the young rooks, after the well-known custom. +An unusual proportion of young birds would then survive, and next +building season the larger part of these would return to the old trees +and be immediately met in battle by their older relatives. Being driven +away from the hereditary group of trees, they would resort to the next +nearest avenue or grove; if they attempted to mix with a strange tribe, +they would encounter a still fiercer resistance. In this way possibly +the avenue in question might become stocked with rooks. + +One reason, I fancy, why nests begun in such distant trees are so often +deserted before completion is that a solitary nest exposes both the +building birds and their prospective offspring to grave danger from +hawks. No hawk will attempt to approach a rookery--the rooks would +attack him _en masse_ and easily put him to flight. Chickens are safer +under or near a rookery from this cause: a hawk approaching them would +alarm the rooks and be beaten away. The comparative safety afforded by +numbers is perhaps a reason why many species of birds are gregarious. +The apparently defenceless martins and swallows in this way dwell in +some amount of security. If a hawk comes near the sand quarry (or the +house--in the case of swallows) they all join together and pursue him, +twittering angrily, and as a matter of fact generally succeed in sending +him about his business. Even those birds which do not build in close +contiguity no sooner find that a hawk is near than they rise +simultaneously and follow and annoy him: so much so that he will +sometimes actually drop the prey he has captured. It is astonishing +with what temerity small birds, emboldened by numbers--chaffinches, +finches generally, sparrows, swallows, and so on--will attack a hawk. + +The `quar-martins' that came to the orchard wall--emigrating from the +quarry, and wandering about in search of a suitable habitation--if young +birds, as we have supposed them to be, would naturally not yet have had +much experience, and so might think the steep wall (roughly resembling +the face of a quarry) available for their purpose till they had made the +experiment. I have thought, from watching the motions of birds that go +in flights, that most of them have a kind of leader or chief. They do +not yield anything like the same obedience or reverence to the chief as +the bees do to the queen-bee, and exhibit little traces of following his +motions implicitly. He is more like the president of a republic; each +member is individually free, and twitters his or her mind just as he or +she likes. But it seems to be reserved to one bird to give the signal +for all to move. So these martins, after lingering about the wall for +hours--some of them, too, leaving it and flying away only to come back +again--finally started altogether. It is difficult to account for such +simultaneous and combined movements, unless we suppose that it is +reserved to a certain bird to give the signal. + +In the fork of a great apple tree--a Blenheim orange--the missel-thrush +has built her nest. Missel-thrushes, doubtless of the same family, have +used the tree for many years. Though the nest is large, the young birds +as they grow up soon get too big for it and fall out. This period--just +before the young can fly--is the most critical in their existence, and +causes the greatest anxiety to the parents. Without the resource of +flight, weak and unable even to scramble fast through the long grass, +betraying their presence by continually crying for food, they are +exposed to dangers from every species of vermin. + +The missel-thrush is a bold, determined bird, and does his utmost in the +defence of his offspring. When the young birds fall out of the nest (so +soon as one has clambered over, the others quickly follow), the parents +rarely leave the orchard together. One or other is almost always close +at hand. If any enemy approaches they immediately set up an angry +chattering, by which noise you may at once know what is going on. I +have seen two missel-thrushes attack a crow in this way. The crow came +and perched upon a bough within a yard of their nest, which contained +young. The old birds were there immediately, and they so annoyed and +buffeted the murderous robber that he left without achieving his fell +purpose. + +The cat is the worst enemy of the missel-thrush. It is noticeable that +while these thrushes will attack anything that flies they are not so +bold on the ground, but seem afraid to alight. They will strike even at +the human hand that touches their nest. The crow, strong as he is, they +courageously drive away; but the enemy that stealthily approaches along +the ground to the helpless young bird in the grass they cannot resist. +On the wing they can retreat quickly if pressed; on the ground they +cannot move so swiftly, and may themselves fall a prey without affording +any assistance. The missel-thrushes come to the orchard frequently +after the nesting season is over and before it commences. They do not +seem in search of food, but alight on the trees as if to view their +property. They are strong on the wing, and fly direct to their object: +there is something decided, courageous, and, as one might say, manly in +their character. + +The bark of some of the apple trees peels of itself--that is, the thin +outer skin--and insects creep under these brown scales curled at the +edges. If you sit down on the elm butt placed here as a seat and watch +quietly, before long the little tree-climber will come. He flies to the +trunk of the apple tree (other birds fly to the branches), and then +proceeds to ascend it, going round it as he rises in a spiral. His +claws cling tenaciously to the bark, his tail touches the tree, and +seems to act as a support--like what I think the carpenters call a +`knee'--and his head is thrown back so as to enable him to spy into +every cranny he passes. After a few turns round the trunk he is off to +another tree, to resume the same restless spiral ascent there; and in a +minute or so off again to a third; for he never apparently examines +one-half of the trunk, though, probably, his eyes, accustomed to the +work, see farther than we may imagine. The orchard is never long +without a tree-climber: it seems a favourite resort of these birds. +They have a habit of rushing quickly a little way up; then pausing, and +again creeping swiftly another, foot, or so, and are so absorbed in +their pursuit that they are easily approached and observed. + +Who can stay indoors when the goldfinches are busy among the bloom on +the apple trees? A flood of sunshine falling through a roof of rosy +pink and delicate white blossom overhead; underneath, grass deeply green +with the vigour of spring, dotted with yellow buttercups, and strewn +with bloom shaken by the wind from the trees: is not this better than +formal-patterned carpets, and the white flat ceilings that weigh so +heavily upon the sight? Listen how happy the goldfinches are in the +orchard. Summer after summer they build in the same trees--bushy-headed +codlings; generation after generation has been born there and gone forth +to enjoy in turn the pleasures of the field. + +A year--nay, a single summer--must be a long time in their chronology, +for they are so very very busy: a bright sunshiny day must be like a +month to them. Now coquetting, now splashing at the sandy edge of a +shallow streamlet till the golden feathers glisten from the water and +the red top-knot shines, away again along the hedgerow searching for +seeds, singing all the while, and the tiny heart beating so rapidly as +to compress twice as many beats of emotion into the minute as our +sluggish organisations are capable of. Though a path much-frequented by +the household passes beneath the trees in which they build, they show no +fear. + +Just as men from various causes congregate in particular places, so +there are spots in the fields--in the country generally--which appear to +specially attract birds of all kinds. Wide districts are almost bare of +them: on a single farm you may often find a great meadow which scarcely +seems to have a bird in it, while another little oddly-cornered field is +populous with them. This orchard and garden at Wick is one of the +favourite places. It is like one of those Eastern marts where men of +fifty different nationalities, and picturesquely clad, jostle each other +in the bazaars: so here feathered travellers of every species have a +kind of leafy capital. When the nesting time is over the goldfinches +quit the orchard, and only return for a brief call now and then. I +almost think the finches have got regular caravan routes round and +across the fields which they travel in small bands. + +In the meadow, just without the close-cropped hawthorn which encloses +one side of the orchard, is a thick hedge, the end of which comas right +up to the apple trees, being only separated by the ha-ha wall and a +ditch. This hedge, dividing two meadows, is about two hundred yards +long and well grown with a variety of underwood, hazel, willow, maple, +hawthorn, blackthorn, elder, etc, and studded with some few elms and +ashes, and a fine horse-chestnut. Down the ditch for some distance runs +a little stream (except in a long drought); and where another hedge +branches from it is a hollow space arched over and roofed with boughs. +Now this hedge is a favourite highway of birds and other wild creatures, +and leads direct to the orchard. Most of the visitors to the house and +garden come down it--it is one of their caravan routes. + +If on a summer's morning you go and sit in the gateway about half-way up +the hedge, partly hidden by a pollard ash and great hawthorn bushes, you +will not have long to wait before you hear the pleasant calls of the +greenfinches coming. They seem always to travel two or more pairs +together, and constantly utter a soothing call, as if to say to their +companions, "Here we are, close by, dearest." They all appear to know +exactly where they are going--flitting across the gateway one by one, +moving of one accord in the same direction; and their contented notes +gradually become inaudible as they go towards the orchard. The +goldfinches use the same route; so do the bullfinches. Even the +starlings, before they come to the house, usually perch on an ash tree +in this hedge. + +There is another hedge, running parallel to it, 150 yards distant, the +end of which also approaches the premises, but it is comparatively +deserted. You may wait there in vain and see nothing but a robin. + +By the same caravan route the blackbirds come to the garden; they, +however, are not such travelling birds as the finches. But the tomtits +are: they work their way from tree to tree for miles; they also come to +the orchard by this hedge highway. As I have said before, it abuts on +the orchard; and a straight line carried across to the orchard wall, +over that and the road outside, would strike another great hedge which, +were it not for the intervention of the garden, would be a continuation +of the first. The finches, after spending a little time in the apple +and damson trees, fly over the wall and road to this second hedge, and +follow it down for nearly half a mile to a little enclosed meadow, +which, like the orchard, is a specially favourite resort. The fondness +of birds for this route is very striking; they are constantly passing up +or down it. There is another such a favourite route at some distance, +running beside a brook and likewise leading to the same enclosed +meadow--of which more presently. I think I could make a map of these +fields, showing the routes and resorts of furred and feathered +creatures. + +Near the ha-ha wall, where the great meadow hedge comes up to the +orchard, is a summer-house, with a conical thatched roof and circular +window. It is hung all round under the ceiling with festoons of eggs +taken by the boys of the farmstead, cordially assisted by the carters' +lads when not at work. There may be perhaps forty varieties, arranged +so as to increase in size from the tiny tomtits up to the large +wood-pigeons, the peewits, corncrake, and crow: some milk-white, others +splotched with dark brown spots and veins, others again blue. These +eggs, when taken and the yolk blown out, were strung on a bennet and so +carried home. The lads like to get them as soon after laid as possible, +because they blow best then; if hard set the shell may break. + +In the circular window they have left a nest of the long-tailed tit, or +`titmouse,' built exactly in the shape of a hut with roof and tiny +doorway, and always securely attached in the midst of a thorn bush to +branches that are stiff and unlikely to bend with the breeze, so that +this beautiful piece of bird-architecture may not be disturbed. To take +it, it is generally necessary to cut away several boughs. Such nests +are often seen in farmhouses placed as an ornament on the mantelpiece. +Spiders have filled the window with their webs, and to these every now +and then during the day--there is no door to the summer-house--come a +robin, a wren, and a flycatcher. Either of these, but more particularly +the two last, will take insects from the spider's web. + +The flycatcher has a favourite perch close by, and may perhaps hear the +shrill buzz when an insect is caught. The flycatcher is a regular +summer visitor: in the orchard, garden, and adjacent rickyard at least +three pairs build every year. Under the shady apple trees near the +summer-house one may be seen the whole day long ever on the watch. He +perches on a dead branch, low down--not up among the boughs, but as much +as possible under them. Every two or three minutes he flies swiftly +from his perch a few yards, darts on an insect--you cannot see it, but +can distinctly hear the snap of the bill--and returns to his post. He +uses the same perch for half an hour or more; then shifts to another at +a little distance, and so works all round the orchard, but regularly +comes back to the same spot. By waiting near it you may be certain of +seeing him presently; and he is very tame, and will carry on operations +within a few yards--sometimes picking up a fly almost within reach of +your hand. It is noticeable that many insect-eating birds are +especially tame. They will occasionally dart after a moth, but drop it +again--as if they did not care for that kind of food, and yet could not +resist the habit of snapping at such things. + +I once saw a flycatcher rush after a buff-coloured moth, which fluttered +aimlessly out of a shady recess: he snapped it held it a second or two +while hovering in the air, and then let it go. Instantly a swallow +swooped down, caught the moth, and bore it thirty or forty feet high, +then dropped it when, as the moth came slowly down, another swallow +seized it and carried it some yards and then left hold, and the poor +creature after all went free. I have seen other instances of swallows +catching good-sized moths to let them go again. + +The brown linnet is another regular visitor building in the orchard; so +too the blackcap, whose song, though short, is sweet; and the bold +bright bullfinches use the close-cropped hawthorn. They have always a +nest there, made of slender fibres dexterously interwoven. There, is a +group of elms near the further end of the enclosure and another by the +rickyard; linnets seem fond of elms. + +A pair of squirrels sometimes come down the same hedge--it is a +favourite highway of wild animals as well as birds--to the orchard, and +play in the apple trees: they even venture to a tree only a few yards +from the house. If not disturbed they stay a good while, and then +return by the way they came to a copse at the top of the meadow. The +corner formed by the hedge and the copse--quiet, but in easy view from +the house--is especially frequented by them. Their lively motions on +the ground are very amusing: they visit the ground much oftener than may +be generally supposed. Fir trees seem to attract them--where there is a +plantation of firs you may be sure of finding a squirrel. + +When alarmed or chased a squirrel always ascends the tree on the +opposite side away from you--he will not run to a solitary tree if he +can possibly avoid it: he likes a group, and his trick is, the moment he +thinks he is out of sight among the upper branches, to slip quietly from +one tree to the other till, while you are scanning every bough, he has +travelled fifty yards away unnoticed. If the branches are not close +enough to hide him, he gets as much as possible behind a large branch, +and stretches himself along it--at the same time his tail, which at +other times is bushy, seems to contract, so that he is less visible. He +will leap in his alarm to dead branches, and, though his weight is +trifling, occasionally they snap under the sudden impact; but that does +not distress him in the least, because a bough rarely breaks clean off +but hangs suspended by bark or splinters, so that he can scramble to the +ivy that winds round the trunk. Or if he is obliged to slip down, the +next branch catches him; and I have never seen a squirrel actually fall, +though sometimes in their frightened haste they will send a number of +little dead twigs rustling downwards. When the tail is spread out, so +to say, its texture is so fine and silky that the light seems to play +through it. They love this particular corner because just there the +hedge is composed of hazel bushes, and even when the nuts are gone from +the branches they still find some which have dropped upon the bank and +are hidden in the dry grass and brown leaves. + +In this corner, too, the bank being dry and sandy, there is a large +settlement of rabbits, and now and then some of these find their way to +the orchard and garden along the hedge. Rabbits have their own social +laws and customs adapted to the special conditions of their way of life. +At the breeding season there seems to be a tendency to migrate on the +part of the younger rabbits from the great `bury' hitherto their home. +Many solitary holes at some distance are then occupied, and the fresh +sand thrown out shows that a tenant has entered on possession. In this +way one or two take up their residence more than half-way down the hedge +towards the orchard. Then the doe seems to have a desire to separate +herself at a certain period from the rest. She goes out into the mowing +grass perhaps thirty yards from the `bury,' and there the young are born +in a short hole excavated for the purpose. The young rabbits naturally +remain close to their birthplace; they are conducted to the hedge as +soon as they are old enough to run about; and so a fresh colony is +formed. As they get larger, or, say, soon after midsummer, they appear +to show a tendency to roam; and by the autumn, if left undisturbed, +descendants from the original settlement will have pushed outposts to a +considerable distance. These, having been bred near, have little fear +of entering the orchard, or even the garden, and next season will rear +their offspring close at hand and feed in the enclosure, using the +close-cropped hawthorn as a cover. + +Weasels also occasionally come down the hedge into the orchard for the +various prey they find there; they visit the outhouses and sheds, too, +at intervals in the cattle yards adjoining the house. More rarely the +stoat does the same. A weasel may frequently be found prowling in the +highway hedge. When a weasel runs fast on a level hard surface--as +across a road--the hinder quarters seem every now and then to jump up as +if rebounding from the surface; his legs look too short for the speed he +is going. This peculiar motion gives them when in haste an odd +appearance. In a less degree, a mouse rushing in alarm across a road +does the same. The motion ceases the moment mouse or weasel reaches the +turf, which is rarely quite level. + +The brown field-mouse may be found in the orchard hedge, but is so +unobtrusive that his presence is hardly observed. There are many more +of these mice in the hedges than are suspected to be there; their little +bodies slip about so near the surface of the brown earth, the colour of +which they resemble, that few notice them unless they chance to be +calling each other in their shrill treble. Even then, though the sound +be audible, the mouse is invisible; but you cannot sit quiet in a hedge +very long in summer without becoming aware of their presence. Some of +the older branches of the hawthorn bushes, bent down when young by the +hedge-cutter, are nearly horizontal and free for some part of their +length of twigs. The mice run along these natural bridges from one part +of the hedge to the other. + +Last spring I watched a mouse very busily engaged sitting on such a +branch, about a foot above the bank, nibbling the tender top leaves of +the `clite' plant. The `clite' grows with great rapidity, and climbs up +into the hedge; this plant had already pushed up ten or twelve inches, +so that the mouse on the branch was just about on a level with the upper +and tenderest leaves. These he drew towards him with his fore feet and +complacently nibbled. When he had picked out what suited his fancy he +ran along the branch, and in an instant was lost to sight on the bank +among the grass. + +The nests of the `harvest trow'--a still smaller mouse, seldom seen +except in summer--are common in the grass of the orchard (and in almost +every meadow) before it is mown. As the summer wanes their dead bodies +are frequently found in the footpaths; for a kind of epizoic seems to +seize them at that time, and they die in numbers. It is curious that an +animal which carefully conceals itself in health should at the approach +of death seek an open and exposed place like a footpath worn clear of +grass. + +In the ha-ha wall, at that part of the orchard where the highway hedge +comes up, is the square mouth of a rather large drain. The drain itself +is of rude construction--two stones on edge and a third across at the +top. It comes from the cowyard, passing under the outermost part of the +garden a considerable distance away from the house. Very early one +morning the labourers, coming to work, saw a fox slip into the mouth of +the drain through the long grass of the meadow on which it opened. In +the summer, the cattle being all out in the fields, the drain was +perfectly dry, and it was known that now and then the rabbits from the +hedge made use of it as a temporary place of concealment. No doubt the +presence of a rabbit in it was the cause of the fox entering in the +first place. The rabbit must have had a very bad time of it for, the +drain being closed at the other end with an iron grating, no possibility +of escape existed. + +From the traces in the grass and on the dry mud at the mouth it appeared +as if the fox had ventured there more than once; and, as there were many +chickens about his object in lying here was evident. The great hedge +being so near, and the narrow space between full of tall mowing grass-- +the edge of the ha-ha wall, too, clothed with stonecrop and grasses +growing in the interstices of the loose stones, and further sheltered by +a low box-hedge--it was a place almost made on purpose for. Reynard's +cunning ambuscade. He is as bold or even, bolder than he is cunning. A +young dog sent up the drain came back quicker than he went, and refused +to venture a second time. The fox remained there all day, and of course +`made tracks' at night, knowing that his presence had been discovered by +the commotion and talking at the mouth of his cave. He might easily +have been captured, but that was not attempted on account of the hunt. + +Though the fox as a general rule sleeps during the day, he does not +always, but sometimes makes a successful foray in broad daylight. +Fowls, for instance, at night roost in the sheds at some height from the +ground--often the sheds are contrived specially to protect them; but in +the day they roam about in the vicinity of the rickyards where they are +kept. They will make runs down the centre of a double-mound hedge, and +while thus rambling occasionally stroll into the jaws of their foe, who +has been patiently waiting hidden in the long grass and underwood. In +the day, too, rabbits often sit out in a bunch of grass, or dry furrow, +a long way from the `bury.' Their form is usually within a few paces of +a well-marked `run'--they follow the run out into the field, and then +leave it and go among the grass at one side. The run, therefore, +sometimes acts as a guide to the fox, who, sheltered by the tall bennets +and thick bunches, occasionally glides up it in the daytime to his prey. + +There is sure to be a snake or two in the grass of the orchard during +the summer, especially if there chance to be an old manure-heap anywhere +near; for that is the place in which they like to leave their chains of +white eggs, out of which, if broken, the little snakes issue only two or +three inches in length. The heat of the manure-heap acts as an +incubator. When it is wet and the hay cannot be touched, the haymakers, +there being nothing else for them to do, are put to turn such heaps, and +frequently find the eggs of snakes. These creatures now and then get +inside farmhouses, whose floors are generally on a level with the +surface of the earth or nearly so. They have been found in the +clock-case--the old upright eight-day clock, standing on the floor; they +come after the frogs that enter at the doors--always wide open in +summer--and are supposed also to eat crumbs. + +In the cellar there is sure to be a toad under the barrels on the cool +stone-flags; in the garden there is another, purposely kept in the +cucumber-frame to protect the plant from being eaten by creeping things. +It is curious to notice that they both seem to flourish equally well-- +one in the coolest, the other in the hottest place. A third may +generally be found in the strawberry-bed. Strawberries are much eaten +by insects of many kinds; so that the toad really does good service in a +garden. + +In winter, when snow is on the ground, a few larks sometimes venture +into the garden where anything green yet shows above the white covering +on the patches. If the weather is severe, the moorhen will come up from +the brook, though two fields distant, in the night, and the marks of her +feet may be traced round the house. Then, as the evening approaches, +the wild ducks pass over, and every now and then during the night the +weird cries of waterfowl resound in the frosty air. The heron sails +slowly over, every night and every morning, backwards and forwards from +the mere to the water-meadows and the brook, uttering his unearthly call +at intervals. + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +THE WOOD-PILE--LIZARDS--SHEDS AND RICKYARD--THE WITCHES' BRIAR-- +INSECTS--PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND FRUIT. + +The farmhouse at Wick has the gardens and orchard already mentioned upon +one side, and on the other are the carthouses, sheds, and rickyard. +Between these latter and the dwelling runs a broad roadway for the +waggons to enter and leave the fields, and on its border stands a great +wood-pile. The faggots cut in the winter from the hedges are here +stacked up as high as the roof of a cottage, and near by lies a heap of +ponderous logs waiting to be split for firewood. From exposure to the +weather the bark of the faggot-sticks has turned black and is rapidly +decaying, and under it innumerable insects have made their homes. + +For these, probably, the wrens visit the wood-pile continually; if in +passing anyone strikes the faggots with a stick, a wren will generally +fly out on the opposite side. They creep like mice in between the +faggots--there are numerous interstices--and thus sometimes pass fight +through a corner of the stack. Sometimes a pole which has been lying by +for a length of time is found to be curiously chased, as it were, all +over the surface under the loose bark by creeping things. They eat +channels interweaving and winding in and out in an intricate pattern, +occasionally a little resembling the Moorish style of ornamentation seen +on the walls of the Alhambra. I have found poles so curiously carved +like this that the idea naturally occurred of using them for cabinet +work. They might at least have supplied a hint for a design. Besides +the wrens, many other birds visit the wood-pile--sparrows are +perpetually coming, and on the retired side towards the meadow the +robins build their nests. On the ridge where some of the sticks project +the swallows often perch and twitter--generally a pair seem to come +together. + +It takes skill as well as mere strength even to do so simple a thing as +to split the rough logs lying here on the ground. They are not like +those Abraham Lincoln began life working at--even-grained wood, quickly +divided--but tough and full of knots strangely twisted; so that it needs +judgment to put the wedges in the right place. + +Near the wood-pile is a well and a stone trough for thirsty horses to +drink from, and as the water, carelessly pumped in by the carters' lads, +frequently overflows, the ground just there is usually moist. If one of +the loose oak logs that lie here with the grass growing up round it is +rolled over, occasionally a lizard may be found under it. This lizard +is slender, and not more than three or four inches in length, general +colour a yellowish green. Where one is found a second is commonly close +by. They are elegantly shaped, and quick in their motions, speedily +making off. They may now and then be discovered under large stones, if +there is a crevice, in the meadows. They do not in the least resemble +the ordinary `land-lizard,' which is a much coarser-looking and larger +creature, and is not an inhabitant of this locality: at all events it is +rare enough to have escaped me here, though I have often observed it in +districts where the soil is light and sandy and where there is a good +deal of heath-land. The land-lizards will stroll indoors if the door be +left open. These lesser but more elegant lizards appear to prefer a +damp spot--cool and moist, but not positively wet. + +A large shed built against the side of the adjacent stable is used as a +carpenter's workshop--much carpenter's work is done on a farm--and here +is a bench with a vice and variety of tools. When sawing, the wood +operated on often `ties' the saw, as it is called--that is, pinches it-- +which makes it hard to work; a thin wedge of wood is then inserted to +open a way, and the blade of the saw rubbed with a little grease, which +the metal, heated by the friction, melts into oil. This eases the +work--a little grease, too, will make a gimlet bore quicker. Country +carpenters keep this grease in a horn--a cow's horn stopped at the +larger end with a piece of wood and at the other by its own natural +growth. Now the mice (which are everywhere on farm premises) are so +outrageously fond of grease that they will spend any length of time +gnaw-gnaw-gnawing till they do get at it. Right through the solid +stopper of wood they eat their way, and even through the horn; so that +the carpenter is puzzled to know how to preserve it out of their reach. +It is of no use putting it on a shelf, because they either rush up the +wall or drop from above. At last, however, he has hit upon a dodge. + +He has suspended the horn high above the ground by a loop of copper +wire, which projects six or eight inches from the wall, like a lamp on a +bracket. The mice may get on the bench, and may run up the wall, but +when they get to the wire they cannot walk out on it--like tight-rope +walking--the more especially as the wire, being thin and flexible, bends +and sways if they attempt it. This answers the purpose as a rule; but +even here the carpenter declares that once now and then his horn is +pilfered, and can only account for it by supposing that a bolder mouse +than common makes a desperate leap for it, and succeeds in landing on +the flat surface of the wooden stopper. + +The shed has one small window only, which has no glass, but is secured +by an iron bar (he needs no larger window, for all carpenters work with +the door open); and through this window a robin has entered and built a +nest in a quiet corner behind some timber. Though a man is at work here +so often, hammering and sawing, the birds come fearlessly to their +young, and pick up the crumbs he leaves from his luncheon. + +Between the timber framework of the shed and the brickwork of the +adjacent stable chinks have opened, and in these and in the chinks +between the wooden lintel of the stable-door and the bricks above it the +bats frequently hide, passing the day there. Others hide in the tiles +of the roof where their nests are made. The labouring lads often amuse +themselves searching for these creatures, whose one object in daylight +seems to be to cling to something; they will hang to the coat with the +claws at the extremity of their membranous wings, and if left alone will +creep out of sight into the pocket. There are two well-marked species +of bats here--one small and the other much larger. + +The lesser bat flies nearer to the ground, and almost always follows the +contour of some object or building. They hawk to and fro for hours in +the evening under the eaves of the farmhouse, and frequently enter the +great garrets and the still larger cheese-room (where the cheese is +stored to mature)--sometimes through the windows, and sometimes seeming +to creep through hales made by sparrows or starlings in the roof. Moths +are probably the attraction; of these there are generally plenty in and +about old houses. Occasionally a bat will come into the sitting-room, +should the doors be left open on a warm summer evening: this the old +folk think an evil omen, and still worse if in its alarm at the attempts +made to drive it away it should chance to knock against the candle and +overturn or put it out. They think, too, that a bat seen in daytime is +a bad sign. Once now and then one gets disturbed by some means in the +tiles, and flutters in a helpless manner to the nearest shelter; for in +daylight they seem quite at a loss, though flying so swiftly at night. + +The greater bat hawks at a considerable elevation above houses and +trees, and wheels and turns with singular abruptness, so that some think +it a test of a good shot to bring them down. The reason, however, why +many find it difficult to hit a bat is because they are unaccustomed to +shoot at night, and not because of its manner of flight for it often +goes quite straight. It is also believed to be a test of good hearing +to be able to hear the low shrill squeak of the bat uttered as it flies: +the same is said of the shrew mouse, whose cry is yet more faint and +acute. The swift, too, has a peculiar kind of screech, but easily +heard. + +Beyond the stables are the cattle-sheds and cow-yards. These sheds are +open on the side towards the yard, supported there by a row of wooden +pillars stepped on stones to keep them from rotting. On the large +cross-beams within the swallows make their nests. When the eggs are +hard set, the bird will sit so close that with care and a gentle manner +of approach you may sometimes even stroke her back lightly with your +finger without making her rise. They become so accustomed to men +constantly in and out the sheds as to feel little alarm. Some build +their nests higher up under the roof-tree. + +To the adjoining rickyard redstarts come every summer, building their +nests there; `horse-matchers' or stonechats also in summer often visit +the rickyard, though they do not build in it. Some elm trees shade the +ricks, and once now and then a wood-pigeon settles in them for a little +while. The coo of the dove may be heard frequently, but she does not +build very near the house. + +On this farm the rookery is at some distance in the meadows, and the +rooks rarely come nearer than the field just outside the post and rails +that enclose the rickyard, though they pass over constantly, flying low +down without fear, unless some one chances just then to come out +carrying a gun. Then they seem seized with an uncontrollable panic, and +stop short in their career by a violent effort of the wings, to wheel +off immediately at a tangent. Perhaps no other bird shows such evident +signs of recognising a gun. Chaffinches, it must not be forgotten, +frequent the rickyard in numbers. + +Finally come the rats. Though trapped, shot, and ferreted without +mercy, the rats insist on a share of the good things going. They +especially haunt the pigsties, and when the pigs are served with their +food feed with them at the same trough. Those old rats that come to the +farmstead are cunning fierce beasts, not to be destroyed without much +difficulty. They will not step on a trap, though never so cleverly +laid; they will face a ferret, unless he happens to be particularly +large and determined, and bite viciously at dogs. But with all their +cunning there is one simple trick which they are not up to: this is to +post yourself high up above the ground, when they will not suspect your +presence; a ladder is placed against a tree within easy shot of the +pigsty, and the gunner, have previously arranged that everything shall +be kept quiet, takes his stand on it, and from thence kills a couple +perhaps at once. + +On looking back, it appears that the farmhouse, garden, orchard, and +rickyard at Wick are constantly visited by about thirty-five wild +creatures, and, in addition, five others come now and then, making a +total of forty. Of these forty, twenty-six are birds, two bats, eight +quadrupeds, and four reptiles. This does not include some few +additional birds that only come at long intervals, nor those that simply +fly overhead or are heard singing at a distance. + +The great meadow hedge--the highway of the birds--where it approaches +the ha-ha wall of the orchard, is lovely in June with the wild roses +blooming on the briars which there grow in profusion. Some of these +briars stretch forth into the meadow, and then, bent down by their own +weight, form an arch crowned with flowers. There is an old superstition +about these arches of briar hung out along the hedgerow: magical cures +of whooping-cough and some other diseases of childhood can, it is +believed, be effected by passing the child at sunrise under the briar +facing the rising sun. + +This had to be performed by the `wise woman.' There was one in every +hamlet but a few years ago--and indeed here and there an aged woman +retains something like a reputation for witchcraft still. The `wise +woman' conducted the child entrusted to her care at the dawn to the +hedge, where she knew there was a briar growing in such a position that +a person could creep under it facing the east, and there, as the sun +rose, passed the child through. + +In the hollow just beneath the ha-ha wall, where it is moist, grow tall +rushes; and here the great dragon-fly darts to and fro so swiftly as to +leave the impression of a line of green drawn suddenly through the air. +Though travelling at such speed, he has the power of stopping abruptly, +and instantly afterwards returns upon his path. These handsome insects +are often placed on mirrors as an ornament in farmhouses. The labourers +will have it that they sting like the hornet; but this they say also of +many other harmless creatures, seeming to have a general distrust of the +insect kind. They will tell you alarming stories of terrible +sufferings--arms swollen to double the natural size, necks inflamed, and +so forth--caused by the bites of unknown flies. Not being able to +discover what fly it is that inflicts these poisonous wounds, and having +spent so many hours in the fields without experiencing such effects, I +rather doubt these statements, though put forth in perfect good faith: +indeed, I have often seen the arms and chests of the men in harvest time +with huge bumps rising on them which they declared were thus caused. +The common harvest bug, which gets under the skin, certainly does not +cause such great swellings as I have seen; nor the stoat-fly, which +latter is the most bloodthirsty wretch imaginable. + +With a low hissing buzz, a long, narrow, and brownish grey insect +settles on your hand as you walk among the hay, and presently you feel a +tingling sensation, and may watch (if you have the patience to endure +the irritation) its body gradually dilate and grow darker in colour as +it absorbs the blood. When once thoroughly engaged, nothing will +frighten this fly away: you may crush him, but he will not move from +fear: he will remain till, replete with blood, he falls off helpless +into the grass. + +The horses in the waggons have at this season to be watched by a boy +armed with a spray of ash, with which he flicks off the stoats that +would otherwise drive the animals frantic. A green spray is a great +protection against flies; if you carry a bough in your hand as you walk +among the meadows they will not annoy you half so much. Such a bough is +very necessary when lying _perdu_ in a dry ditch in summer to shoot a +young rabbit, and when it is essential to keep quiet and still. Without +it it is difficult to avoid lifting the hand to knock the flies away-- +which motion is sure to alarm the rabbit that may at that very moment be +peeping out preparatory to issuing from his hole. It is impossible not +to pity the horses in the hayfields on a sultry day; despite all the +care taken, their nostrils are literally black with crowds of flies, +which constantly endeavour to crawl over the eyeball. Sunshine itself +does not appear so potent in bringing, forth insects as the close +electrical kind or heat that precedes a thunderstorm. This is so well +known that when the flies are more than usually busy the farmer makes +haste to get in his hay, and lets down the canvas over his rick. The +cows give warning at the same time by scampering about in the wildest +and most ludicrous manner--their tails held up in the air--tormented by +insects. + +The ha-ha wall, built of loose stones, is the home of thousands upon +thousands of ants, whose nests are everywhere here, the ground being +undisturbed by passing footsteps. They ascend trees to a great height, +and may be seen going up the trunk sometimes in a continuous stream, one +behind the other in Indian file. + +In one spot on the edge of the ha-ha is a row of beehives--the garden +wall and a shrubbery shelter them here from the north and east, and the +drop of the ha-ha gives them a clear exit and entrance. This is thought +a great advantage--not to have any hedge or bush in front of the hives-- +because the bees, heavily laden with honey or pollen, encounter no +obstruction in coming home. They are believed to work more +energetically when this is the case, and they certainly do seem to +exhibit signs of annoyance, as if out of temper, if they get entangled +in a bush. Indeed, if you chance to be pursued by an angry cloud of +bees whose ire you have aroused, the only safe place is a hedge or bush, +into which make haste to thrust yourself, when the boughs and leaves +will baffle them. If the hive be moved to a different place, the bees +that chance at the time to be out in the fields collecting honey, upon +their return, finding their home gone, are evidently at a loss. They +fly round, hovering about over the spot for a long time before they +discover the fresh position of the hive. + +The great hornet, with its tinge of reddish orange, comes through the +garden sometimes with a heavy buzz, distinguishable in a moment from the +sound of any other insect. All country folk believe the hornet's sting +to be the most poisonous and painful of any, and will relate instances +of persons losing the use of their arms for a few days in consequence of +the violent inflammation. Sometimes the hornet selects for its nest an +aperture in an old shed near the farmhouse. I have seen their nests +quite close to houses; but, unless wantonly disturbed, there is not the +slightest danger from them, or indeed from any other insects of this +class. I think the common hive-bees are the worst tempered of any--they +resent the slightest interference with their motions. The hornet often +chooses an old hollow withy-pollard for the site of its nest. + +In the orchard there is at least one nest of the humble-bee, made at a +great depth in a deserted mouse's hole. These bees have eaten away and +removed the grass just round the entrance, so as to get a clear road in +and out. They are as industrious as the hive-bee; but, as there are not +nearly so many working together in one colony, they do not store up +anything approaching to the same quantity of honey. There is a +superstition that if a humble-bee buzzes in at the window of the +sitting-room it is a sure sign of a coming visitor. + +Be careful how you pick up a ripe apple, all glowing orange, from the +grass in the orchard; roll it over with your foot first, or you may +chance to find that you have got a handful of wasps. They eat away the +interior of the fruit, leaving little but the rind; and this very +hollowness causes the rind to assume richer tints and a more tempting +appearance. Specked apples on the tree, whether pecked by a blackbird, +eaten by wasps or ants, always ripen fastest, and if you do not mind +cutting out that portion, are the best. Such a fallen apple, when +hollowed out within, is a veritable torpedo if incautiously handled. + +Wasps are incurable drunkards. If they find something sweet and +tempting they stick to it, and swill till they fall senseless to the +ground. They are then most dangerous, because unseen and unheard, and +one may put one's hand on them in ignorance of their whereabouts. +Noticing once that a particular pear tree appeared to attract wasps, +though there was little or no fruit on it, I watched their motions, and +found they settled at the mouth of certain circular apertures that had +been made in the trunk. There the sap was slowly exuding, and to this +sap the wasps came and sipped it till they could sip no more. The tree +being old and of small value, it was determined to see what caused these +circular holes. They were cut out with a gouge, when the whole interior +of the trunk was found bored with winding tunnels, through which a +pistol bullet might have been passed. This had been done by an enormous +grub, as long and large as one's finger. + +Old-world plants and flowers linger still like heirlooms in the +farmhouse garden, though their pleasant odour is ofttimes choked by the +gaseous fumes from the furnaces of the steam-ploughing engines as they +pass along the road to their labour. Then a dark vapour rises above the +tops of the green elms, and the old walls tremble and the earth itself +quakes beneath the pressure of the iron giant, while the atmosphere is +tainted with the smell of cotton-waste and oil. How little these accord +with the quiet, sunny slumber of the homestead. But the breeze comes, +and ere the rattle of the wheels and cogs has died away, the fragrance +of the flowers and green things has reasserted itself. Such a sunny +slumber, and such a fragrance of flowers, both wild and cultivated, have +dwelt round and over the place these 200 years, and mayhap before that. +It is perhaps a fancy only, yet I think that where men and nature have +dwelt side by side time out of mind there is a sense of a presence, a +genius of the spot, a haunting sweetness and loveliness not elsewhere to +be found. The most lavish expenditure, even when guided by true taste, +cannot produce this feeling about a modern dwelling. + +At Wick, by the side of the garden path, grows a perfect little hedge of +lavender; every drawer in the house, when opened, emits an odour of its +dried flowers. Here, too, are sweet marjoram, rosemary, and rue; so +also bay and thyme, and some pot-herbs whose use is forgotten, besides +southernwood and wormwood. They do not make medical potions at home +here now, but the lily-leaves are used to allay inflammation of the +skin. The house-leek had a reputation with the cottage herbalists; it +is still talked of, but I think very rarely used. + +Among the flowers here are beautiful dark-petalled wallflowers, +sweet-williams, sweet-briar, and pansies. In spring the yellow crocus +lifts its head from among the grass of the green in front of the house +(as the snowdrops did also), and here and there a daffodil. These, I +think, never look so lovely as when rising from the green sward; the +daffodils grow, too, in the orchard. Woodbine is everywhere--climbing +over the garden seat under the sycamore tree, whose leaves are spotted +sometimes with tiny reddish dots, the honey-dew. + +Just outside the rickyard, where the grass of the meadow has not been +mown but fed by cattle, grow the tall buttercups, rising to the knee. +The children use the long hollow stems as tubes wherewith to suck up the +warm new milk through its crown of thick froth, from the oaken +milking-pail. There is a fable that the buttercups make the butter +yellow when they come--but the cows never eat them, being so bitter; +they eat all round close up to the very stems, but leave them standing +scrupulously. The children, top, make similar pipes of straw to suck up +the new cider fresh from the cider-mill, as it stands in the tubs +directly after the grinding. Under the shady trees of the orchard the +hare's parsley flourishes, and immediately without the orchard edge, on +the `shore' of the ditch, grow thick bunches of the beautiful blue +crane's-bill, or wild geranium, which ought to be a garden flower and +not left to the chance mercy of the scythe. There, too, the herb Robert +hides, and its foliage, turning colour, lies like crimson lace on the +bank. + +Even the tall thistles of the ditch have their beauty--the flower has a +delicate tint, varying with the species from mauve to purple; the +humble-bee visits every thistle-bloom in his path, and there must +therefore be sweetness in it. Then in the autumn issues forth the +floating thistledown, streaming through the air and rolling like an +aerial ball over the tips of the bennets. Thistledown is sometimes +gathered to fill pillow-cases, and a pillow so filled is exquisitely +soft. There is not a nook or corner of the old place where something +interesting may not be found. Even the slates on a modern addition to +the homestead are each bordered with yellow lichen--perhaps because they +adjoin thatch, for slates do not seem generally to encourage the growth +of lichen. It appears to prefer tiles, which therefore sooner assume an +antique tint. + +To the geraniums in the bow-window the humming-bird moth comes now and +then, hovering over the scarlet petals. Out of the high elms drops a +huge grey moth, so exactly the colour of grey lichen that it might be +passed for it--pursued, of course, as it clumsily falls, by two or more +birds eager for the spoil. It is feast-time with them when the +cockchafers come: they leave nothing but wing-cases scattered on the +garden paths, like the shields of slain men-at-arms. + +In the bright sunshine, when there is not a cloud in the sky, slender +beetles come forth from the cracks of the earth and run swiftly across +the paths, glittering green and gold, iridescent colours glistening on +their backs. These are locally called sunbeetles, because they appear +when the sun is brightest. Be careful not to step on or kill one; for +if you do it will certainly rain, according to the old superstition. +The blackbird, when he picks up one of the larger beetles, holds it with +its back towards him in his bill, so that the legs claw helplessly at +the air, and thus carries it to a spot where he can pick it to pieces at +his leisure. + +The ha-ha wall of the orchard is the favourite haunt of butterflies; +they seem to love its sunny aspect, and often cling to the loose stones +like ornaments attached by some cunning artist. Sulphur butterflies +hover here early in the spring, and later on white and brown and tiny +blue butterflies pass this way, calling _en route_. Sometimes a great +noble of the butterfly world comes in all the glory of his wide velvety +wings, and deigns to pause awhile that his beauty may be seen. + +Somewhere within doors, in the huge beams or woodwork, the death-tick is +sure to be heard in the silence of the night: even now the old folk +listen with a lingering dread. Give the woodwork a smart tap, and the +insect stops a few moments, but it rapidly gets accustomed to such taps, +and after a few ceases to take notice of them. This manner of building +houses with great beams visibly supporting the ceiling, passing across +the roam underneath it, had one advantage. On a rainy day the children +could go into the garrets or the cheese-loft and there form a swing, +attaching the ropes to the hooks in the beam across the ceiling. + +The brewhouse, humble though its object may be, is not without its claim +to admiration. It is open from the floor to the rafters of the roof, +and that roof in its pitch, the craft of the woodwork, the dull polish +of the old oak, has an interest far surpassing the dead staring level of +flat lath and plaster. Noble workmanship in wood may be found, too, in +some of the ancient barns; sometimes the beams are of black oak, in +others of chestnut. + +In these modern days men have lost the pleasures of the orchard; yet an +old-fashioned orchard is the most delicious of places wherein to idle +away the afternoon of a hazy autumn day, when the sun seems to shine +with a soft slumberous warmth without glare, as if the rays came through +an aerial spider's web spun across the sky, letting all the beauty, but +not the heat, slip through its invisible meshes. There is a shadowy +coolness in the recesses under the trees. On the damson trunks are +yellowish crystalline knobs of gum which has exuded from the bark. Now +and then a leaf rustles to the ground, and at longer intervals an apple +falls with a decided thump. It is silent save for the gentle twittering +of the swallows on the topmost branches--they are talking of their +coming journey--and perhaps occasionally the distant echo of a shot +where the lead has gone whistling among a covey. It is a place to dream +in, bringing with you a chair to sit on--for it will be freer from +insects than the garden seat--and a book. Put away all thought of time: +often in striving to get the most value from our time it slips from us +as the reality did from the dog that greedily grasped at the shadow: +simply dream of what you will, with apples and plums, nuts and filberts +within reach. + +Dusky Blenheim oranges, with a gleam of gold under the rind; a warmer +tint of yellow on the pippins. Here streaks of red, here a tawny hue. +Yonder a load of great russets; near by heavy pears bending the strong +branches; round black damsons; luscious egg-plums hanging their yellow +ovals overhead; bullace, not yet ripe, but presently sweetly piquant. +On the walnut trees bunches of round green balls--note those that show a +dark spot or streak, and gently tap them with the tip of the tall +slender pole placed there for the purpose. Down they come glancing from +bough to bough, and, striking the hard turf, the thick green rind splits +asunder, and the walnut itself rebounds upwards. Those who buy walnuts +have no idea of the fine taste of the fruit thus gathered direct from +the tree, when the kernel, though so curiously convoluted, slips its +pale yellow skin easily and is so wondrously white. Surely it is an +error to banish the orchard and the fruit garden from the +pleasure-grounds of modern houses, strictly relegating them to the rear, +as if something to be ashamed of. + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +THE HOME-FIELD--HAZEL CORNER--THE DIVINING-ROD--RABBITS' HOLES--THE +CORNCRAKE--VENTRILOQUISM OF BIRDS--HEDGE FRUIT. + +A wicket-gate affords a private entrance from the orchard into the +home-field, opening on the meadow close to the great hedge, the +favourite highway of the birds. Tracing this hedge away from the +homestead, in somewhat more than two hundred yards it is joined by +another hedge crossing the top of the field, thus forming a sheltered +nook or angle, which has been alluded to as the haunt of squirrels. +Here the highway hedge is almost all of hazel, though one large hawthorn +tree stands on the `shore' of the ditch. Hazel grows tall, straight, +and is not so bushy as some underwood; the lesser boughs do not +interlace or make convenient platforms on which to build nests, and +birds do not use it much. + +The ancient divination by the hazel wand, or, rather, the method of +searching for subterranean springs, is not yet forgotten; some of the +old folk believe in it still. I have seen it tried myself, half in +joke, half in earnest. A slender rod is cut, and so trimmed as to have +a small fork at one end; this fork is placed under the little finger in +such a way that the rod itself comes over the back of the other fingers; +it is then lightly balanced, and vibrates easily. The magician walks +slowly over the ground selected, watching the tip of the wand; and +should it bend downwards without volition on his part, it is a sign that +water is concealed beneath the spot. + +The nuts upon the bushes do not all ripen at the same time: one or two +bushes are first, and offer ripe nuts before the rest have hardened +sufficiently. The leaves on these also drop earlier, turning a light +yellow. The size and even the shape of the nuts vary too, some being +nearly round and others roughly resembling the almond. Their flavour +when taken from the bush is sweet, juicy, `nutty.' When they will `slip +udd' is the proper time to gather them--i.e. when the hood or outer +green covering slips off at a touch, leaving the light-brown nut in the +palm: it is a delicately shaded brown. Cut off just the tip of the +nut--the pointed keystone of its Gothic arch--with a penknife; insert +the blade ever so slightly, and a gentle turn splits the shell and shows +two onyx-white hemispheres of kernel. + +With a little care the tallest boughs may be pulled down uninjured; if +dragged down rudely the bough will be `sprung' where it joins the stole +below, and will then wither and die. The plan is simply to apply force +by degrees, pulling the main bough only so far forward as to enable the +hand to reach air upper branch, seizing the upper branch, and by its aid +reaching a still higher one, and gradually bending the central stem till +it forms a bow. If done gradually and the bow not too acute, the +tallest bush will spring up when released without the least injury. +With a crook to seize the bush as high up as possible--where it bends +more easily--not a twig need be broken, and nutting may be enjoyed +without doing the least damage. + +Under a tall ash tree rising out of the hazel bushes, and near the great +hawthorn on the edge or shore of the ditch, the grass grows rank and is +of the deepest green. The dove that could be heard cooing from the +orchard built her nest in the hawthorn, which, where it overhangs the +grass like a canopy, is bare of boughs for six or seven feet up the +gnarled stem. The cattle, who love to shelter under it from the heat of +the sun, browsed on the young shoots, so that no branch could form; but +on the side towards the ditch there are immense spiny thorns, long +enough and strong enough to make a savage's arrow-head or awl. The +doves do not seem nearly so numerous as the wood-pigeons (doves too, in +strict language); they are much smaller, rather duller in colour--that +is, when flying past--and are rarely seen more than two together. When +the summer thunder is booming yonder over the hills, and the thin edge +of the dark cloud showers its sweet refreshing rain, with the sunshine +gleaming through on the hedge and grass here, between the rolling echoes +the dove may be heard in the bush coo-cooing still more softly and +lovingly to her mate. + +Just in the very angle formed by the meeting hedges the ditch becomes +almost a fosse, so broad and deep; the sandy banks have slipped, and the +rabbits have excavated more, and over all the brambles have arched +thickly with a background of brake fern. The flower of the bramble is +very beautiful--a delicate pink bloom, succeeded by green berries, to +ripen red, and later black, under the sun. A larger kind are found here +and there--the children call them dew-berries or jew-berries +indifferently. Some of the bramble leaves linger on a dull green all +through the winter. + +In the angle a narrow opening runs through between the two banks, which +do not quite meet: it is so overgrown with bramble and fern, convolvulus +and thorn, that unless the bushes were parted to look in no one would +suspect the existence of this green tunnel, which on the other side +opens on the ash copse, where a shallow furrow (dry) joins it. This +tunnel is the favourite way and passage of the rabbits from the copse +out into the tempting pasturage of the meadow; through it too, now and +then, a fox creeps quietly. Rabbit-holes drill the bank everywhere, but +one near this green bye-way is noticeable because of its immense size. + +It must measure eighteen inches or nearly in diameter at the mouth; nor +does it diminish abruptly, but continues almost as large a yard or more +inside the bank. Spaniels will get right into such a `bury,' till +nothing but the tail can be seen, and, if permitted, stay there and dig +and scratch frantically. They would sometimes, perhaps, succeed in +reaching the prey were it not for the roots of thorn bushes or trees +which cross the holes here and there like bars; these they cannot +scratch through, but will bite and tear with their teeth--coming out now +and then to breathe and shake the sand from their muzzles, then back +again with a whine of eager excitement, till presently, in sheer +exhaustion, they lie down at the mouth of the cave and pant. This is +not allowed if it is known; but spaniels now and then steal away +privately, and so frequently make for a hole like this that when their +absence is discovered it is the first place visited in search of them. +The mingled patience and excitement, the vast labour they will undergo, +the quantity of sand they will throw out, the whine--it is not a bark-- +expressing intense desire, prove how deep is the hunting instinct in the +dog. + +Even if the burrows be ferreted, in a few weeks this great hole shows +signs of fresh inhabitants; and such a specially enlarged entrance may +be found somewhere in most of the banks frequented by rabbits. Why do +they make an aperture so many times larger than they can possibly +require? It may be a kind of ancestral hall, the favourite cave of the +first settlers here, clung to by their descendants. Within, perhaps +three, or even more, tunnels branch off from it. So busy are they, and +so occupied when excavating a fresh passage, that sometimes when waiting +quietly on a bank you may see the miner at work. The sand pours out as +he casts it behind him with his hinder paws; his back is turned, so that +he does not notice anyone. + +Along the banks evidence maybe found of attempts at boring holes, +abandoned after a few inches of progress had been made: sometimes a +root, or a stone perhaps, interferes; sometimes, and apparently more +often, caprice seems the only cause why the tunnel was discontinued. +The grass in this corner is sweeter to their taste than elsewhere: their +runs are everywhere--crossing and winding about. + +In the evening, as the shadows deepen and a hush falls upon the meads, +they come out and chase and romp with each other. When a couple are at +play one will rush ten or a dozen yards away and begin to nibble as if +totally unconscious of the other. The second meanwhile nibbles too, but +all the while stealthily moves forward, not direct, but sideways, +towards the first, demurely feeding. Suddenly the second makes a +spring; the first, who has been watching out of the corners of his eye +all the time, is off like the wind. Or sometimes he will turn and face +the other, and jump clean over, a foot high. Sometimes both leap up +together in the exuberance of their mirth. + +By the trunk of a mighty oak, growing out of the hedge that runs along +the top of the field, the brambles and underwood are thinner, as is +generally the case close under a tree; and it is easy to push through +just there. On the other side, a huge root covered with deep green moss +affords a pleasant seat, leaning back against the trunk. Upon the +right, close by, is the ash copse, with its border of thick fir trees; +on the left oaks at intervals stand along the hedge; in front stretches +the undulating surface of an immense pasture field called The Warren. +Like a prairie it rolls gently away, dotted with hawthorn bushes, here +and there a crab tree, and two rows of noble elms, in both of which the +rooks are busy in spring. Beyond, the ground rises, and the small +upland meadows are so thickly timbered as to look like distant glades of +a forest; still farther are the downs. + +Under this great oak in the stillness is a place to dream--in summer, +looking upward into the vast expanse of green boughs, is an intricate +architecture, an inimitable roof, whose lattice-windows are set with +translucent _lapis lazuli_, for the deep blue of the sky seems to come +down and rest upon it. The acorns are already there, as yet all cup, +and little of the acorn proper showing; there is a tiny black speck on +the top, and the young acorn faintly resembles some of the ancient cups +with covers, the black speck being the knob by which the cover is +lifted. After the first frosts, when the acorns are browned and come +out of their cups from their own weight as they fall and strike the +ground, the lads select the darkest or ripest, and eat one now and then; +they half-roast them, too, like chestnuts. + +In the early spring, when the night is bright and clear, it is a place +to stand a moment and muse awhile. For the copse is dark and gloomy, +the bare oaks are dark behind; the eye cannot see across the prairie, +whose breadth is doubled by the night. But yonder lies a great grey +sarsen boulder, like an uncouth beast of ancient days crouching in the +hollow. Hush! there was a slight rustling in the grass there, as of a +frightened thing; it was a startled hare hastening away. The brightest +constellations of our latitude pour down their rays and influence on the +birth of bud and leaf in spring; and at no other season is the sky so +gorgeous with stars. + +The grass in the meadow or home-field as it begins to grow tall in +spring is soon visited by the corncrakes, who take up their residence +there. In this district (though called the corncrake) these birds seem +to frequent the mowing grass more than the arable fields, and they +generally arrive about the time when it has grown sufficiently high and +thick to hide their motions. This desire of concealment--to be out of +sight--is apparently more strongly marked in them than in any other +bird; yet they utter their loud call of `Crake, crake, crake!' not +unlike the turning of a wooden rattle, continuously though only at a +short distance. + +It is difficult to tell from what place the cry proceeds: at one moment +it sounds almost close at hand, the next fifty yards off; then, after a +brief silence, a long way to one side or the other. The attempt to mark +the spot is in vain; you think you have it, and rush there, but nothing +is to be seen, and a minute afterwards `Crake, crake!' comes behind you. +For the first two or three such attempts the crake seems to move but a +little way, dodging to and fro in a zigzag, so that his call is never +very far off; but if repeated again and again he gets alarmed, there is +a silence, and presently you hear him in a corner of the mead a hundred +yards distant. Perhaps once, if you steal up very, very quietly, and +suddenly dart forward, or if you have been waiting till he has come +unawares close to you, you may possibly see the grass move as if +something passed through it; but in a moment he is gone, without a +glimpse of his body having been seen. His speed must be very great to +slip like this from one side of the field to the other in so few +seconds. + +The fact that the call apparently issues from the grass in one place, +and yet upon reaching it the bird is not to be found, has given rise to +the belief that the crake is a ventriloquist. It may be so; but even +without special powers of that kind, ventriloquial effects would, I +think, be produced by the peculiar habits of the bird. When that which +causes a sound is out of sight it must always be difficult to fix upon +the exact spot whence the sound comes. When the sound is made now here, +now yonder, as the bird travels swiftly--still out of sight--it must be +still more difficult. The crake doubtless often cries from a furrow, +which would act something like a trough, tending to draw the sound along +it. Finally the incessant repetition of the same note, harsh and loud, +confuses the ear. + +Some say in like manner that the starling ventriloquises. He has, +indeed, one peculiar long-drawn hollow whistle which goes echoing round +the chimneypots and to and fro among the gables; but it never deceives +you as to his position on the roof unless you are indoors and cannot see +him. It is the same with the finches in the trees, when the foliage is +thick. Their notes seem to come from this side among the branches, but +on peering carefully up there is no bird visible; then it sounds higher +up, and even in the next tree; all the while the finch is but just +overhead, and the moment he moves he is seen. Other birds equally +deceive the ear: the yellowhammer does sometimes, and the chattering +brook-sparrow; so will the blackbird when singing--always provided that +they are temporarily invisible. + +When the crake remains a long time in one place, uttering the call +continuously, the illusion disappears, and there is no more difficulty +in approximately fixing its position than that of any other bird. One +summer a crake chose a spot on the `shore' of the ditch of the highway +hedge, not forty yards from the orchard ha-ha. There was a thick growth +of tall grass, clogweed, and other plants just there, and some of the +bushes pushed out over the sward. The nest was placed close to the +ditch (not in it), and the noise the crakes made was something +astonishing. `Crake, crake; crake!' resounded the moment it was light-- +and it is light early at that season: `Crake, crake, crake!' all the +morning; the sound now and then, if the bird moved a few yards nearer, +echoing back from some of the buildings. There was, or seemed to be, a +slight cessation in the middle of the day, but towards evening it +recommenced, and continued without cessation till quite dark. This +lasted for some weeks: it chanced that the meadow was mown late, so that +the birds were undisturbed. Why so apparently timid a bird should +choose a spot near a dwelling is not easy to understand. + +The crakes, however, when thus localised deceived no one by their +supposed ventriloquial powers; therefore it seems clear that the +deception is caused by their rapid changes of position. The mouse in +like manner often gives an impression that it must be in one spot when +it is really a yard away, the shrill squeak, as it were, left behind it. +It is not easy sometimes to fix the position of the death-tick in +woodwork. The home-field or meadow here is a favourite haunt of the +crakes, for like all other birds they have their special places of +resort. Another meadow, at some distance on the same farm, is equally +favoured by them. This meadow adjoins that second line of bird-travel, +following a brook previously alluded to. But as the crakes, though they +will take refuge in a hedge, do not travel along it habitually, this +circumstance may be accidental. Crakes, notwithstanding they run so +swiftly, do not seem to move far when once they have arrived; they +appear to restrict themselves to the field they have chosen, or, at the +furthest, make an excursion into the next and return again, so that you +may always know where to go to hear one. + +The mowers cutting these meadows find the eggs--the nest being on the +ground--and bring them to the farmstead, both as a curiosity and to be +eaten, some thinking them equal to plover's eggs. Though you may follow +the sound `Crake, crake!' in the grass for hours at a time, and +sometimes get so near as to throw your walking-stick at a bunch of +grass, you will never see the bird; and nothing, neither stick nor +stone, will make it rise. Yet it is easy to shoot, as I found, in one +particular way. The trick is to drive it into a hedge. Two persons and +a spaniel well in hand walk towards the `Crake, crake!' keeping some +distance apart. The bird at first runs straight away; then, finding +himself still pursued, tries to dodge back, but finds the line extended. +He then takes refuge in silence, and endeavours to slip past unseen and +unheard; but the spaniel's power of scent baffles that. At last he +makes for the hedge, when one person immediately goes on the other side, +and the spaniel beats up it. The bird is now surrounded and cannot +escape, and, as the dog comes close upon him, is compelled to rise and +fly. As he rises his flight at first somewhat resembles the +partridge's, but it is slower and heavier, and he can be shot with the +greatest ease. But if not fired at, after he has got well on the wing +the flight becomes much stronger, and it is evident that he is capable +of a long voyage. + +Sometimes, by patience and skilfully anticipating his zigzag motions in +the grass, the crake may be driven to the hedge without a dog. He will +then, after a short time, if still hunted, `quat' in the thickest bunch +of grass or weeds he can find in the ditch, and will stay till all but +stepped on, when he can be knocked down with a walking-stick. After the +grass is mown, the crakes leave the meadows and go to the arable fields, +where the crops afford them shelter. This district seems a very +favourite resort of these birds. + +The mowing grass while standing does not appear to attract other birds +much; but immediately the scythe has passed over they flock to the +swathes from the hedges, and come, too, to the hay itself when quite +dry. In hay there are many plants whose stems are hollow. Now, as soon +as a stalk is dry, if there be any crevice at all, insects will creep +in; so that these tiny tubes are frequently full of inhabitants, which +probably attract the birds. + +Sometimes a bird will perch for a moment on a haymaker's hat as he walks +slowly down a lane with hedges each side; the fibres of hay have adhered +to it, and the keen eyes above have detected some moving creature on +them. Birds that are otherwise timid will remain on the footpath to the +very last moment, almost till within reach, if they chance to be +dissecting a choice morsel, some exquisite beetle or moth--pecking at it +in eager haste and running what to them must seem a terrible risk for +the sake of gratifying their taste. + +The wood-pigeons are fond of acorns, and come for them to the oaks +growing in an irregular row along the hedge at the top of the +home-field. They are most voracious birds and literally cram their +crops with this hard fruit. Squirrels and mice enjoy the nuts in Hazel +Corner, and the thrushes and pigeons feed on the peggles which cover the +great hawthorn bush there so thickly as to give it a reddish tint. +There is a difference even in this fruit: on some bushes the peggles +consist mainly of the internal stone, the edible coating being of the +thinnest. On others the stone is embedded in, a thick mellow covering +affording twice as much food. Like other products of the hedge, they +are supposed to be improved by frost. + +Farther down the highway hedge, by the gateway, a large elder bush, or +rather tree, bears a profusion of berries. Blue-black sloes adhere to-- +they do not hang on--the blackthorn bushes: in places the boughs are +loaded with them. Here and there crabs cling to the tough crab tree, +whose bark has a dull gloss on it something like dark polished leather. +Bunches of red berries shine on the woodbine: fruit growing in bunches +usually depends, but these are often on the upper side of the stalk; and +the latter bloom shows by them--flower and fruit at the same time. The +berry has a viscous feel. + +Larger berries--some red, some green, on the same bunch--cluster on the +vines of the bryony. The white bryony, whose leaf is not unlike that of +the grape, has a magical reputation, and the cottage folk believe its +root to be a powerful ingredient in love potions, and also poisonous. +They identify it with the mandrake. If growing in or close to a +churchyard its virtues are increased, for, though becoming fainter as +they lengthen, the shadows of the old superstitions linger still. Red +nightshade berries--not the deadly nightshade, but the `bitter-sweet'-- +hang sullenly among the bushes where this creeping plant has trailed +over them. Here and there upon the bank wild gooseberry and currant +bushes may be found, planted by birds carrying off ripe fruit from the +garden. A wild gooseberry may sometimes be seen growing out of the +decayed `touchwood' on the top of a hollow withy-pollard. Wild apple +trees, too, are not uncommon in the hedges. + +The beautiful rich colour of the horse-chestnut, when quite ripe and +fresh from its prickly green shell, can hardly be surpassed; underneath +the tree the grass is strewn with the shells, where they have fallen and +burst. Close to the trunk the grass is worn away by the restless +trampling of horses, who love the shade its foliage gives in summer. +The oak-apples which appear on the oaks in spring--generally near the +trunk--fall off in the summer, and lie shrivelled on the ground not +unlike rotten cork, or black as if burned. But the oak-galls show thick +on some of the trees, light green, and round as a ball; they will remain +on the branches after the leaves have fallen, turning brown and hard, +and hanging there till the spring comes again. + +One of the cottagers in the adjacent hamlet collects these brown balls +and strings them upon wire, making flower-stands and ornamental baskets +for sale. They seem to appear in numbers upon those oak bushes rather +than trees which spring up when an oak has been cut down but the stump +has not been grubbed up. These shoots at first often bear leaves of +great size, many times larger than the ordinary oak leaf; some are +really immense, measuring occasionally fourteen or fifteen inches in +length. As the shoots grow into a bush the leaves diminish in size and +become like those of the tree. + +In the ditch the tall teazle lifts its prickly head. The large leaves +of this plant grow in pairs, one on each side of the stem, and while the +plant is young are connected in a curious manner by a green membrane, or +continuation of the lower part of the leaf round the stem, so as to form +a cup. The stalk rises in the centre of the cup, and of these vessels +there are three or four above each other in storeys. When it rains, the +drops, instead of falling off as from other leaves, run down these and +are collected in the cups, which thus form so many natural rain-gauges. +If it is a large plant, the cup nearest the ground--the biggest--will +hold as much as two or three wine-glasses. This water remains there for +a considerable time, for several days after a shower, and is fatal to +numbers of insects which climb up the stalk or alight on the leaves and +fall in. While the grass and the earth of the bank are quite dry, +therefore, the teazle often has a supply of water; and when it dries up, +the drowned insects remain at the bottom like the dregs of a draught the +plant has drained. Round the prickly dome-shaped head, as the summer +advances, two circles of violet-hued flowers push out from cells +defended by the spines, so that, seen protruding above the hedge, it +resembles a tiara--a green circle at the bottom of the dome, and two +circles of gems above. + +Some of the grasses growing by the hedge are not to be handled +carelessly, the edge of the long blade cutting like a lancet: the +awn-like seeds of others, if they should chance to get into the mouth, +as happens occasionally to the haymakers, work down towards the throat, +the attempt to get rid of them causing a creeping motion the opposite +way. This is owing to the awns all slanting in one direction. + +On the sultry afternoons of the latter part of the summer the hedge is +all but silent. Waiting in the gateway there is no sound for half an +hour at a time, no call or merry song in the branches, nothing but the +buzz of flies. The birds are quiet, or nearly so: they slip about so +noiselessly that it is difficult to observe them, so that many perhaps +migrate before it is suspected, and others stay on when thought to be +gone. In the grass the grasshoppers make their hiss, and towards +evening the yellowhammers utter a few notes; but while the corn is being +reaped the meadows are all but still. + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE ASH COPSE--THE NIGHTINGALE--CLOUD OF STARLINGS--HEDGEHOGS--HERON'S +HEAD--MOORHENS--AMONG THE REEDS. + +A gap in the hedge by Hazel Corner leads through a fringe of hawthorn +bushes into the ash copse. There is a gate at a little distance; but +somehow it is always more pleasant to follow the bye-way of the gap, +where two steps, one down into the ditch, or rather on to the heap of +sand thrown out from a rabbit bury, and one up on the mound, carry you +from the meadow--out of cultivation--into the pathless wood. The green +sprays momentarily pushed aside close immediately behind, shutting out +the vision, and with it the thought of civilisation. These boughs are +the gates of another world. Under trees and leaves--it is so, too, +sometimes even in an avenue--where the direct rays of the sun do not +penetrate, there is ever a subdued light; it is not shadow, but a light +toned with green. + +In spring the ground here is hidden by a verdant growth, out of which +presently the anemone lifts its chaste flower. Then the wild hyacinths +hang their blue bells so thickly that, glancing between the poles, it is +hazy with colour; and in the evening, if the level beams of the red sun +can reach them, here and there a streak of imperial purple plays upon +the azure. Woodbine coils round the tall straight poles, and wild hops, +whose bloom emit a pleasant smell if crushed in the fingers. On the +upper and clearer branches of the hawthorn the nightingale sings--more +sweetly, I think, in the freshness of the spring morning than at night. +Resting quietly on an ash-stole, with the scent of flowers, and the +odour of green buds and leaves, a ray of sunlight yonder lighting up the +lichen and the moss on the oak trunk, a gentle air stirring in the +branches above, giving glimpses of fleecy clouds sailing in the ether, +there comes into the mind a feeling of intense joy in the simple fact of +living. + +The nightingale shows no timidity while all is still, but sings on the +bough in full sight, hardly three yards away, so that you can see the +throat swell as the notes are poured forth--now in intricate trills, now +a low sweet call, then a liquid `jug-jug-jug!' To me it sounds richer +in the morning--sunlight, flowers, and the rustle of green leaves seem +the natural accompaniment; and the distant chorus of other birds affords +a contrast and relief--an orchestra filling up the pauses and supporting +the solo singer. + +Passing deeper into the wood, it is well to be a little careful while +stepping across the narrow watercourse that winds between the stoles. +Rushes grow thickly by the side, and the slender stream seems to ooze +rather than run, trickling slowly down to the brook in the meadow. But +the earth is treacherous on its banks--formed of decayed branches, +leaves, and vegetable matter, hidden under a thin covering of aquatic +grasses. Listen! there is a faint rustling and a slight movement of the +grass: it is a snake gliding away to its hole, with yellow-marked head +lifted above the ground over which his dull green length is trailing. +Stepping well over the moist earth, and reaching the firmer ground, +there the thistles grow great and tall, many up to the shoulder; it is a +little more open here, the stoles having been cut only two years ago, +and they draw the thistles up. + +Sometimes the young ash, shooting up after being cut, takes fantastic +shapes instead of rising straight. The branch loses its roundness and +flattens out to a width of three or four inches, curling round at the +top like the conventional scroll ornament. These natural scrolls are +occasionally hung up in farmhouses as curiosities. The woodmen +jocularly say that the branch grew in the night, and so could not see +its way. In some places (where the poles are full-grown) the upper +branches rub against each other, causing a weird creaking in a gale. +The trees as the wind rises find their voices, and the wood is full of +strange tongues. From each green thing touched by its fingers the +breeze draws a different note: the bennets on the hillside go `sish, +sish;' the oak in the copse roars and groans; in the firs there is a +deep sighing; the aspen rustles. In winter the bare branches sing a +shrill `sir-r-r.' + +The elm, with its rough leaf, does not grow in the copse: it is a tree +that prefers to stand clear on two sides at least. Oak and beech are +here; on their lower branches a few brown leaves will linger all through +the winter. Where a huge bough has been sawn from a crooked ill-grown +oak a yellow bloated fungus has spread itself, and under it if you lift +it with a stick, the woodlice are crowded in the rotting stump. The +beech boughs seem to glide about, round and smooth, snake-like in their +easy curves. The bark of the aspen, and of the large willow poles, +looks as if cut with the point of a knife, the cut having widened and +healed with a rough scar. On the trunk of the silver birch sometimes +the outer bark peels and rolls up of itself. Seen from a distance, the +leaves of this tree twinkle as the breeze bends the graceful hanging +spray. + +The pheasants, that wander away from the preserves and covers up under +the hills far down in the meadows as the acorns ripen, roost at night +here in the copse; and should a storm arise, after every flash of +lightning gleaming over the downs the cocks among them crow. So, too, +in the daytime, after every distant mutter of thunder the pheasant cocks +crow in the preserves, and some declare they can see the flash, even +though invisible to human eyes, at noonday. + +Clustering cones hang from the firs, fringing the copse on one side-- +first green, and then a pale buff, and falling at last hard and brown to +strew the earth beneath. In the thick foliage of this belt of firs the +starlings love to roost. If you should be passing along any road--east, +north, west, or south--a mile or two distant, as the sun is sinking and +evening approaching, suddenly there will come a rushing sound in the air +overhead: it is a flock of starlings flying in their determined manner +straight for the distant copse. From every direction these flocks +converge upon it: some large, some composed only of a dozen birds, but +all with the same intent. If the country chances to be open, the hedges +low, and the spectator on a rise so as to see over some distance, he may +observe several such flights at the same time. Rooks, in returning to +roost fly in long streams, starlings in numerous separate divisions. +This is especially noticeable in summer, when the divisions are composed +of fewer birds: in winter the starlings congregate in larger bodies. + +It would appear that after the young birds are able to fly they flock +together in parties by themselves, the old birds clubbing together also, +but all meeting at night. The parties of young birds are easily +distinguished by their lighter colour. This may not be an invariable +rule (for the birds to range themselves according to age), but it is the +case frequently. Viewed from a spot three or four fields away, the +copse in the evening seems to be overhung by a long dark cloud like a +bar of mist, while the sky is clear and no dew has yet risen. The +resemblance to a cloud is so perfect that anyone--not thinking of such +things--may for the time be deceived, and wonder why a cloud should +descend and rest over that particular spot. Suddenly, the two ends of +the extended black bar contract and the middle swoops down in the shape +of an inverted cone, much resembling a waterspout, and in a few seconds +the cloud pours itself into the trees. Another minute, and a black +streak shoots upwards, spreads like smoke, parts in two, and wheels +round back into the firs again. + +On approaching it this apparent cloud is found to consist of thousands +of starlings, the noise of whose calling to each other is +indescribable--the country folk call it a `charm,' meaning a noise made +up of innumerable lesser sounds, each interfering with the other. The +vastness of these flocks is hardly credible until seen; in winter the +bare trees on which they alight become suddenly quite black. Once or +twice in the summer starlings may be observed hawking to and fro high in +the air, as if imitating the swallows in an awkward manner. Probably +some favourite insect is then on the wing, and they resort to this +unwonted method to capture it. + +Beyond the fir trees the copse runs up into a corner, where hawthorn +bushes, briar, and bramble succeed to the ash-stoles, and are in turn +bordered by some width of furze and brake fern. When this fern is young +and fresh the sunshine glistens on its glossy green fronds, but on +coming nearer the sheen disappears. On a very hot sultry day towards +the end of summer there is occasionally a peculiar snapping sound to be +heard in the furze, as if some part of the plant, perhaps the seed, were +bursting. The shocks of wheat, too, will crackle in the morning sun. +This corner, well sheltered by furze and brake, is one of `sly +Reynard's' favourite haunts. The stems of the furze, when they grow +straight, are occasionally cut for walking-sticks. Wood-pigeons visit +the copse frequently--in the spring there are several nests--and towards +evening their hollow notes are repeated at intervals. Though without +the slightest pretensions to a song, there is something soothing in +their call, pleasantly suggestive of woodland glades and deep shady +dells. + +Just before the shooting season opens there is a remarkable absence of +song from hedge and tree: even the chirp of the house-sparrow is seldom +heard on the roof, where only recently it was loud and continuous. Most +of the sparrows have, in fact, left the houses in flocks and resorted to +the cornfields after the grain. In this silent season the robin, the +wood-pigeon, and the greenfinch, seem the only birds whose notes are at +all common: the pigeons call in the evening as they come to the copse, +the greenfinches in a hushed kind of way talk to each other in the +hedge, and the robin plaintively utters a few notes on the tree. It is +not absolute silence indeed; but the difference is very noticeable. +Through the ash-poles on one side of the copse distant glimpses may be +obtained of gleaming water, where a creek of the shallow lake runs in +towards it. + +Bordering the furze a thick hawthorn hedge--a double mound--extends, so +wide as to be itself almost another copse. In the `rowetty' grass on +the bank or in the hollow places, under fallen leaves and trailing ivy, +the hedgehog hides during the day, so completely concealed that while +the sun shines it is extremely difficult to find one without a dog. + +A spaniel racing down the mound will pounce on the spot and scratch the +hedgehog out in a moment; then, missing the dog, you presently hear a +whining kind of bark--half rage, half pain--and know immediately what he +is doing. He is trying to unroll the hedgehog, who, so soon as he felt +the approach of the enemy, curled himself into a ball, with the sharp +spines sticking out everywhere. The spaniel, snapping at the animal, +runs these quills deep into his jowl; he draws back, snaps again, shakes +his head, and then tries a third time, with bloodspots round his mouth. +Every repulse embitters him--his semi-whine expresses intense annoyance, +and if left alone there he would stay till covered with blood. + +But the older dogs sometimes learn the trick: they then roll the +hedgehog over with a paw, touching it gently, so as not to run the +spines in, till the depression comes uppermost where the hedgehog has +tucked his head inwards. This is the only vulnerable place, and with +one desperate bite the dog thrusts his teeth in there, seizes the nose, +and then has the hedgehog in his power. The young of the hedgehog are +amusing little things, and try to roll themselves up in precisely the +same manner; but they cannot close the aperture where they tuck their +heads in so completely. Though invisible during the sunshine, hiding so +carefully as to be rarely found, when the dew begins to gather thickly +on the grass and the shades deepen they issue forth, and if you remain +quite still show no fear at all. While waiting in a dry ditch I have +often had a hedgehog come rustling slightly along the bottom till he +reached my boot; then he would go up the `shore' of the ditch out among +the grass hunting for beetles and the creeping things which he likes +most. + +In some places they are numerous; one or two other meadows on the farm +beside the home-field are favourite haunts of theirs, and five or six +may be found out feeding within a short distance. When all is still +they move rapidly through the grass--quite a run; much quicker than they +appear capable of moving. The plough lads, if they find one, carry it +to a pond, knowing that nothing but water will make it unroll +voluntarily--no knocks or kicks; but the moment it touches the water it +uncoils. Now and then a labourer will cook a hedgehog and eat it; some +of them will eat a full-grown rook at any time they chance to shoot it, +notwithstanding the bitter flavour of the bird, only taking out a part +of the back. Those who have had some association with the gipsies or +semi-gipsies seem most addicted to this kind of food. + +In the opposite direction to the ash copse, and about half a mile north +of Wick farmhouse, there rises above the oak and ash trees what looks +like the topmast and yard of a ship lying at anchor or in dock, the hull +hidden by the branches. It is the top of an immensely tall and gaunt +fir tree, whose thin and perhaps dying boughs project almost at right +angles. This landmark, visible over the level meadows for a +considerable distance, stands in that little enclosed meadow which has +once before been mentioned as one of the favourite resorts of birds and +wild animals. + +From the ash copse the travelling parties come down the highway hedge to +the orchard: then, crossing the orchard and road, they enter another +thick hedge, which continues in the same general direction; and finally, +following it, arrive at this small green mead walled in by trees and +mounds so broad as to resemble elongated copses. The mead itself may +perhaps be two acres in extent, but it does not appear so much: the part +visible on first glancing over the gateway can hardly exceed an acre. +The rest is formed of nooks--deep indentations, so to say--not more than +six or eight yards wide at the entrance, and running up to a point. Of +these there are four or five--recesses in the massive walls of green. + +These corners are caused by the mound following the curiously winding +course of a brook which flows just without on the left side; and without +on the right side, runs a second brook, whose direction is much +straighter and current slower. These two meet at the top of the mead, +and then, forming a junction, make a deep, swift stream, flowing beside +a series of water-meadows--broad, level, and open, like a plain--which +are irrigated from it. The mounds in the angle where the brooks join +enclose a large space planted with osiers, and inside the hedges all +round the mead there is a wide, deep ditch, always full of slowly moving +water: so that the field is really surrounded by a double moat; and in +one corner, in addition, there is a pond hidden by maple thickets from +within, and intended for the use of cattle in the adjoining field. The +nearest house is several meadows distant, and no footpath passes near, +so that the spot is peculiarly quiet. These mounds, hedges, osier-bed, +and brooks, occupy an area nearly or quite equal to the space where +cattle can feed. + +Upon the fir tree a heron perches frequently in the daytime, because +from that great elevation he can command an extensive view and feels +secure against attack. Whenever he visits the water-meadows, sailing +thither from the shallow lake (one of whose creeks approaches the ash +copse), he almost always rests here before descending to the field to +take a good look round. The heron is a most suspicious bird: when he +alights in the water-meadows here he stalks about in the very middle of +the great field, far out of reach of the gun. If ever he ventures to +the brook, it is not till after a careful survey from the fir tree, his +tower of observation; and, when in the brook, his long neck is every now +and then extended, that he may gaze above the banks. + +By the gateway, reached by crossing a rude bridge for the waggons, wild +hops festoon the thickets. Behind the maple bushes in the corner the +water of the pond, overhung with willow, is dark--almost black in the +depth of shadow. Out of it a narrow and swift current runs into that +slow straight brook which bounds the right side of the meadow. Here in +the long grass and rushes growing luxuriantly between the underwood lurk +the moorhens, building their nests on bunches of rushes against the bank +and almost level with the water. Though but barely hatched, and chips +of shell clinging to their backs, the tiny fledglings swim at once if +alarmed. When a little older they creep about on the miniature terraces +formed along the banks by the constant running to and fro of water-rats, +or stand on a broken branch bent down by its own weight into the water, +yet still attached to the stem, puffing up their dark feathers like a +black ball. + +If all be quiet, the moorhens come out now and then into the meadow; and +then, as they stand upright out of the water, the peculiar way in which +their tails, white marked, are turned upwards is visible. The bill is +of a fine colour--almost the `orange-tawny' of the blackbird, set in +thick red coral at its base. Under the shallow water at the mouth of +the pond the marks of their feet on the mud may be traced: they run +swiftly, and depend upon that speed and the skilful tricks they practise +in diving--turning back and dodging under water like a hare in the +fields--to escape from pursuit, rather than on their wings. Through the +thick green flags they creep, and into the holes the water-rats have +made, or behind and under the natural cavities in the stoles upon the +bank. They beat the water with their wings when they rise, showering +the spray on either side, for a short distance, and then, ascending on +an inclined plane, fly heavily, but with some strength. + +At night is their time of journeying, when they come down from the lake +or return to it, uttering a weird cry in the darkened atmosphere. By +day, as they swim to and fro in the flags and through the duckweed, +shaded from the hot sun under willow and aspen, they call to each other, +not unpleasantly, a note something like `croog,' with a twirl of the +`r.' In summer they do not move far from the place they have chosen to +breed in: in the frosts of winter they work their way up the brooks, or +fly at night, but usually come back to the old spot. The dabchick, a +slender bird, haunts the pond here too, diving even more quickly than +the moorhen. + +Nut-tree bushes grow along the bank of the brook on this side--the nuts +are a smaller sort than usual; and beside the wet ditch within the mound +and on the `shore,' wherever the scythe has not reached, the +meadow-sweet rears its pale flowers. At evening, if it be sultry, and +on some days, especially before a thunderstorm, the whole mead is full +of the fragrance of this plant, which lines the inside ditch almost +everywhere. So heavy and powerful is its odour that the still +motionless air between the thick hedges becomes oppressive, and it is a +relief to issue forth into the open fields away from the perfume and the +brooding heat. But by day it is pleasant to linger in the shadow and +inhale its sweetness--if you are not nervous of snakes, for there is one +here and there in the grass gliding away at the jar of the earth under +your footstep. Warmth and moisture favour their increase, as on a +larger scale in tropic lands; and parts of the mead are often under +water when a freshet comes down the brooks so choked with flags that +they cannot carry it away quickly. + +The osier-bed in the angle where the brooks join is on slightly higher +ground, for although the withy likes water at its roots it should not +stand in it. Springing across the ditch, and entering among the tall +slender wands, which, though they look so thick part aside easily, you +may find on the mound behind the butt of an oak sawn just above the +ground; and there, in the shade of the reeds, and with a cool breeze now +and again coming along the course of the stream, it is delicious in the +heat of summer to repose and listen to the murmur of the water. + +The moorhens come down the current slowly, searching about among the +flags; the reed warblers are busy in the hedge; at the mouth of his hole +sits a water-rat rubbing his face between his paws; across the stream +comes his mate, swimming slowly with one end of a long green sedge in +her mouth, and the rest towed behind on the surface. They are the +beavers of our streams--amusing, intelligent little creatures, utterly +different in habits from the rat of the drain. Move but a hand, and +instantly they fall rather than dive into the water, making a sound like +`thock' as they strike it; and then they run along the bottom, or seem +to do so, as swiftly as on dry land. But in a few minutes out they come +again, being at the same time extremely timid and as quickly reassured; +so that if you remain perfectly still they will approach within a yard. + +Where the two brooks meet a hollow willow tree hangs over the brown +pool--brown with suspended sand and dead leaves slowly rotating under +the surface--where the swirl of the meeting currents, one swift and +shallow the other deeper and stronger, has scooped out a basin. A +waving line upon the surface marks where the two streams shoulder each +other and strive for mastery, and its curve, yielding now to this side +now to that, responds to their varying volume and weight. While the +under-currents sweep ever slowly round, whirling leaf and dead black +soddened twigs over the hollow, the upper streams are forced together +unwillingly by the narrowing shores, and throw themselves with a +bubbling rush onwards. Through the brown water, from under the stooping +willow whose age bows it feebly, there shine now and again silvery +streaks deep down as the roach play to and fro. There, too, come the +perch; they are waiting for the insects falling off the willows and the +bushes, and for the food brought down by the streams. + +`Hush!' it is the rustle of the reeds, their heads are swaying--a +reddish brown now, later on in the year a delicate feathery white. Seen +from beneath, their slender tips, as they gracefully sweep to and fro, +seem to trace designs upon the blue dome of the sky. A whispering in +the reeds and tall grasses: a faint murmuring of the waters: yonder, +across the broad water-meadow, a yellow haze hiding the elms. + +In the nooks and corners on the left side of the mead the hemlock rears +its sickly-looking stem; the mound is broad and high, and thickly +covered with grasses, for the most part dead and dry. These form a warm +cover for the fox: there is usually one hiding somewhere here, the mead +being so quiet. Where the ground is often flooded watercress has spread +out into the grass, growing so profusely that now the water is low it +might be mown by the scythe. And everywhere in their season, the +beautiful forget-me-nots nestle on the shores among the flags, where the +water, running slower at the edge, lingers to kiss their feet. + +Once, some five-and-twenty years ago, a sportsman startled a great bird +out of the spot where the streams join, and shot it, thinking it was a +heron. But seeing that it was no common heron, he had it examined, and +it was found to be a bittern, and as such was carefully preserved. It +was the last visit of bitterns to the place; even then they were so rare +as not to be recognised: now the progress of agriculture has entirely +banished them. + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +THE WARREN--RABBIT-BURROWS--FERRETS--THE QUARRY--THE FOREST--SQUIRRELS-- +DEER--DYING RABBIT--A HAWK. + +Under the trunks of the great trees the hedges are usually thinner, and +need repairing frequently; and so it happens that at the top of the +home-field, besides the gap leading into the ash copse, there is another +some distance away beneath a mighty oak. By climbing up the mound, and +pushing through the brake fern which grows thickly between the bushes, +entrance is speedily gained to the wide rolling stretch of open pasture +called the Warren. The contrast with the small enclosed meadow just +left is very striking. A fresh breeze comes up from the lake, which, +though not seen in this particular spot, borders the plain-like field in +one part. + +The ground is not level; it undulates, now sinking into wide hollows, +now rising in rounded ridges, and the turf (not mown but grazed) is +elastic under the foot, almost like that of the downs in the distance. +This rolling surface increases the sense of largeness--of width--because +it is seldom possible to see the whole of the field at once. In the +hollows the ridges conceal its real extent; on the ridges a +corresponding rise yonder suggests another valley. The two rows of tall +elms--some hundreds of yards apart--the scattered hawthorn bushes and +solitary trees, groups of cattle in the shade, and sheep grazing by the +far-away hedge, give the aspect of a wilder park, the more pleasant +because of its wildness. + +Near about the centre, where the land is most level, an unexpected slope +goes down into a cuplike depression. This green crater may perhaps have +been formed by digging for sand--so long ago that the turf has since +grown over smoothly. Standing at the bottom the sides conceal all but +the sky overhead. Some few dead leaves of last year, not yet decayed +though bleached and brittle, lie here at rest from the winds that swept +them over the plain. Silky balls of thistledown come irresolutely +rolling over the edge, now this way now that: some rise and float +across, some follow the surface and cling awhile to the bennets in the +hollow. Pale blue harebells, drooping from their slender stems here and +there, meditate with bowed heads, as if full of tender recollections. + +Now, on hands and knees (the turf is dry and soft), creep up one side of +the bowl-like hollow, where, the thistles make a parapet on the edge, +and from behind it look out upon the ground all broken up into low +humps, some covered with nettles, others plainly heaps of sand. It is +the site of an immense rabbit-burrow, the relic of an old warren which +once occupied half the field. The nettle-covered heaps mark old +excavations; where the sand shows, there the miners have been recently +at work. At the sound of approaching footsteps those inhabitants that +had been abroad hastily rushed into their caves, but now (after waiting +awhile, and forgetting that the adjacent hollow might hide the enemy) a +dozen or more have come forth within easy gunshot. Though a few like +this are always looking in and out all through the day, it is not till +the approach of evening that they come out in any number. + +This is a favourite spot from whence to get a shot at them, but the aim +must be deadly, or the rabbit will escape though never so severely +wounded. The holes are so numerous that he has never more than a yard +to scramble, and as he goes down into the earth his own weight carries +him on. If he can but live ten seconds after the lead strikes him, he +will generally escape you. Watching patiently (without firing), after +the twilight has deepened into night presently you are aware of a +longer, larger creature than a rabbit stealing out, seeming to travel +close to the earth: it is a badger. There are almost always a couple +somewhere about the warren. Their residence is easily discovered +because of the huge heap of sand thrown out from the rabbit-hole they +have chosen; and it is this ease of discovery that has caused the +diminution of their numbers by shot or spade. + +The ground sounds hollow underneath the foot--perhaps half an acre is +literally bored away under the surface; and you have to thread your way +in and out a labyrinth of holes, the earth about some of them +perceptibly yielding to your weight. There must be waggon-loads of the +sand that has been thrown out. Beyond this central populous quarter +suburbs of burrows extend in several directions, and there are detached +settlements fifty and a hundred yards away. In ferreting this place the +greatest care has to be taken that the ferret is lined with a long +string, or so fed that he will not lie in; otherwise, if he is not +picked up the moment he appears at the mouth of the hole, he will become +so excited at the number of rabbits, and so thirsty for blood, that he +will refuse to come forth. + +To dig for him is hopeless in that catacomb of tunnels; there is nothing +for it but to send a man day after day to watch, and if possible to +seize him while passing along the upper ground from one bury to another. +In time thirst will drive him to wander; there is no water near this +dry, sandy, and rather elevated spot, and blood causes great thirst. +Then he will roam across the open, and by-and-by reach the hedges, where +in the ditch some water is sure to be found in winter, when ferreting is +carried on. So that, if a ferret has been lost some time, it is better +to look for him round the adjacent hedges than in the warren. + +Long after leaving the bury it is as well to look to your footsteps, +because of solitary rabbit-holes hidden by the grass growing up round +and even over them. If the foot sinks unexpectedly into one of these, a +sprained ankle or even a broken bone may result. Most holes have sand +round the mouth, and may therefore be seen even in the dusk; but there +are others also used which have no sand at the mouth, the grass growing +at the very edge. Those that have sand have been excavated from +without, from above; those that have not, have been opened from below. +The rabbit has pushed his way up from an old bury, so that the sand he +dug fell down behind him into the larger bole. + +The same thing may be seen in banks, though then the holes worked from +within are not so much concealed by grass. These holes are always very +much smaller than the others, some so small that one might doubt how a +rabbit could force his body through them. The reason why the other +tunnels appear so much larger is because the rabbit has no means of +`shoring' up his excavation with planks and timbers, and no `cage' with +which to haul up the sand he has moved; so that he must make the mouth +wider than is required for the passage of his body, in order to get the +stuff out behind him. He can really creep through a much smaller +aperture. At night especially, when walking near a bury situate in the +open field, beware of putting your foot into one of these holes, which +will cause an awkward fall if nothing worse. Some of the older holes, +now almost deserted, are, too, so hidden by nettles and coarse grass as +to be equally dangerous. + +The hereditary attachment of wild animals for certain places is very +noticeable at the warren. Though annually ferreted, shot at six months +out of the twelve, and trapped--though weasels and foxes prey on the +inhabitants--still they cling to the spot. They may be decimated by the +end of January, but by September the burrows are as full as ever. +Weasels and stoats of course come frequently, bent on murder, but often +meet their own doom through over-greediness; for some one generally +comes along with a gun once during the day, and if there be any +commotion among the rabbits, waits till the weasel or stoat appears at +the mouth of a hole, and sends a charge of shot at him. These animals +get caught, too, in the gins, and altogether would do better to stay in +the hedgerows. + +The grass of this great pasture has a different appearance to that in +the meadows which are mown for hay. It is closer and less uniformly +green, because of the innumerable dead fibres. There are places which +look almost white from the bennets which the cattle leave standing to +die after the seeds have fallen, and shrink as their sap dries up. +Somewhat earlier in the summer, bright yellow strips and patches, like +squares of praying-carpet thrown down upon the sward, dotted the slopes: +it was the bird's-foot lotus growing so thickly as to overpower the +grass. Mushrooms nestle here and there: those that grow in the open, +far from hedge and tree, are small, and the gills of a more delicate +salmon colour. Under the elms yonder a much larger variety may be +found, which, though edible, are coarser. + +Where a part of the lake comes up to the field is a long-disused quarry, +whose precipices face the water like a cliff. Thin grasses have grown +over the excavations below: the thistles and nettles have covered the +heaps of rubbish thrown aside. The steep inaccessible walls of hardened +sand are green with minute vegetation. Along the edge above runs a +shallow red-brown band--it is the soil which nourishes the roots of the +grasses of the field: beneath it comes small detached stones in sand; +these fall out, loosened by the weather, and roll down the precipice. +Then, still deeper, the sand hardens almost into stone, and finally +comes the stone itself; but before the workmen could get out more than a +thin layer they reached the level of the water in the lake, which came +in on them, slowly forming pools. + +These are now bordered by aquatic grasses, and from their depths every +now and then the newts come up to the surface. In the sand precipices +are small round holes worked out by the martins--there must be scores of +them. Where narrow terraces afford access to four-footed creatures, the +rabbits, too, have dug out larger caves; some of them rise upwards, and +open on the field above, several yards from the edge of the cliff. The +sheep sometimes climb up by these ledges; they are much more active than +they appear to be, and give the impression that in their native state +they must have rivalled the goats. The lambs play about in +dangerous-looking places without injury: the only risk seems to be of +their coming unexpectedly on the cliff from above; if they begin from +below they are safe. A wood-pigeon may frequently be found in the +quarry--sometimes in the pits, sometimes on the ledges high up--and the +goldfinches visit it for the abundant thistledown. + +Between the excavated hollow and the lake there is but a narrow bank of +stone and sand overgrown with sward; and, reclining there, the eye +travels over the broad expanse of water, almost level with it, as one +might look along a gun-barrel. Yonder the roan cattle are in the water +up to their knees; the light air ripples the surface, and the sunshine +playing on the wavelets glistens so brilliantly that the eye can +scarcely bear it; and the cattle ponder dreamily, standing in a flood of +liquid gold. + +A path running from Wick across the fields to the distant downs leads to +the forest. It would be quite possible to pass by the edge without +knowing that it was so near, for a few scattered trees on the hillside +would hardly attract attention. Nothing marks where the trees cease: +thin, wide apart, and irregularly placed, because planted by nature, +they look but a group on the down. There is indeed a boundary, but it +is at a distance and concealed: it is the trout stream in the hollow far +below, winding along the narrow valley, and hidden by osier-beds and +willow pollards. + +Ascending the slope of the down towards the trees, the brown-tinted +grass feels slippery under foot: this wiry grass always does feel so as +autumn approaches. A succession of detached hawthorn bushes--like a +hedge with great gaps--grow in a line up the rising ground. The dying +vines of the bryony trail over them--one is showing its pale greenish +white flowers, while the rest bear heavy bunches of berries. A last +convolvulus, too, has a single pink-streaked bell, though the bough to +which it holds is already partly bare of leaves. The touch of autumn is +capricious, and passes over many trees to fix on one which stands out +glowing with colour, while on the rest a dull green lingers. Near the +summit a few bunches of the brake fern rise out of the grass; then the +foremost trees are reached, beeches as yet but faintly tinted here and +there. Their smooth irregularly round trunks are of no great height-- +both fern and trees at the edge seem stunted, perhaps because they have +to bear the brunt and break the force of the western gales sweeping over +the hills. + +For the first two hundred yards the travelling is easy because of this +very scantiness of the fern and underwood; but then there seems to rise +up a thick wall of vegetation. To push a way through the +ever-thickening bracken becomes more and more laborious; there is scarce +a choice but to follow a winding narrow path, green with grass and moss +and strewn with leaves, in and out and round the impenetrable thickets. +Whither it leads--if, indeed anywhere--there is no sign. The precise +sense of direction is quickly lost, and then glancing round and finding +nothing but fern and bush and tree on every hand, it dawns upon the mind +that this is really a forest--not a wood, where a few minutes either way +will give you a glimpse of the outer light through the ash-poles. + +Other narrow paths--if they can be called paths which show no trace of +human usage--branch off from the original one, till by-and-by it becomes +impossible to recognise one from the other. The first has been lost +indeed long ago, without its having been observed: for the bracken is +now as high as the shoulders, and the eye cannot penetrate many yards on +either side. Under a huge oak at last there is an open space, circular, +and corresponding with the outer circumference of its branches: carpeted +with dark-green grass and darker moss, thickly strewn with brown leaves +and acorns that have dropped from their cups. A wall of fern encloses +it: the path loses itself in the grass because it is itself green. + +Several such paths debouch here--which is the right one to follow? It +is pure chance. On again, with more tall bracken, thorn thickets, and +maple bushes, and noting now the strange absence of living things. Not +a bird rises startled from the boughs, not a rabbit crosses the way; for +in the forest, as in the fields, there are places haunted and places +deserted, save by occasional passing visitors. Suddenly the bracken +ceases, and the paths disappear under a thick grove of beeches, whose +dead leaves and beechmast seem to have smothered vegetation. + +Insensibly the low ground rises again, the brake and bushes and +underwood reappear, but the trees grow thinner and farther apart; they +are mainly oaks, which like to stand separate in their grandeur. There +is one dead oak all alone in the midst of the underwood, with a wide +space around it. A vast grey trunk, split and riven and hollow, with a +single pointed branch rising high above it, dead, too, and _grey_: not a +living twig, not so much as a brown leaf, gives evidence of lingering +life. The oak is dead; but even in his death he rules, and the open +space around him shows how he once overshadowed and prevented the growth +of meaner trees. More oaks, then a broad belt of beeches, and out +suddenly into an opening. + +It is but a stone's-throw across--a level mead walled in with tail +trees, whose leaves in myriads lie on the brown-tinted grass. One great +thicket only grows in the midst of it. The nights are chilly here, as +elsewhere; but in the day, the winds being kept off by the trees and +underwood, it becomes quite summer-like, and the leaves turn to their +most brilliant hues. The stems of the bracken are yellow; the fronds +vary from pale green and gold, commingled, to a reddish bronze. The +hawthorn leaves are light yellow, some touched with red, others almost +black. Maple bushes glow with gold. Here the beeches show great spots +of orange; yonder the same tree, from the highest branch to the lowest, +has become a rich brown. Brown too, and buff, are the oaks; but the +tints so shade into each other that it is hard to separate and name +them. + +It is not long before sounds and movements indicate that the forest +around is instinct with life. Often it happens that more may be +observed while stationary in one spot than while traversing a mile or +two; for many animals crouch or remain perfectly still, and consequently +invisible, when they hear a footstep. There is a slight tapping sound-- +it seems quite near, but it is really some little way off; and presently +a woodpecker crosses the open, flying with a wave-like motion, now +dipping and now rising. Soon afterwards a second passes: there are +numbers of them scattered about the forest. A clattering noise comes +from the trees on the left--it is a wood-pigeon changing his perch; he +has settled again, for now his hollow note is heard, and he always calls +while perching. A loud screeching and chattering deeper in the forest +tells that the restless jays are there. A missel-thrush comes and +perches on a branch right overhead, uttering his harsh note, something +like turning a small rattle. But he stays a moment only: he is one of +the most suspicious of birds, and has instantly observed that there is +some one near. A magpie crosses the mead and disappears. + +Something moving yonder in the grass catches the eye; it is a reddish +bushy tail, apparently without a body, yet held nearly upright, and +moving hither and thither in a quick, nervous way. Suddenly down it +goes, and the squirrel raises himself on his haunches to listen to some +suspicious sound, holding his forefeet something like a kangaroo. Then +he recommences searching and the tail rises, alone visible above the +tall grass. Now he bounds, and as his body passes through the air the +tail extends behind and droops so that he seems to form an arch. After +working along ten or fifteen yards in one direction, he stops, turns +sharp round, and comes all the way back again. Some distance farther, +under the trees, two more are frisking about, and a rabbit has come to +nibble the grass in the open. + +Looking across to the other side, where the fern recommences, surely +there was a movement as if a branch was shaken; and a branch that, on +second thought, is in such a position that it cannot be connected with +any tree. Again, and then the head and neck of a stag are lifted above +the fern. He is attacking a tree--rubbing his antlers against a low +branch, much as if he were fighting it. He is not a hundred yards off; +it would be easy to get nearer, surely, by stalking him carefully, +gliding from tree trunk to tree trunk under the beeches. + +At the first step the squirrel darts to the nearest beech; and although +it seems to have no boughs or projections low down, he is up it in a +moment, going round the trunk in a spiral. A startling clatter resounds +overhead: it is a wood-pigeon that had come quietly and settled on a +tree close by, without being noticed, and now rises in great alarm. But +it is a sound to which the deer are so accustomed that they take no +notice. There is little underwood here beneath the beeches, but the +beechmast lies thick, and there are dead branches, which if stepped on +will crack loudly. + +A weasel rushes past almost under foot; he has been following his prey +so intently as not to have observed where he was going. He utters a +strange startled `yap,' or something between that and the noise usually +made by the lips to encourage a horse, and makes all speed into the +fern. These are the happy hunting-grounds of the weasels. + +During spring and summer--so long as the grass, clover, and corn crops +are standing, and are the cover in which partridges and other birds have +their nests--the weasels and stoats haunt the fields, being safe from +observation (while in the crops) and certain of finding a dinner. Then, +if you watch by a gap in the hedge, or look through a gateway into the +cornfield, you may be almost certain of seeing one at least; in a +morning's walk in summer I have often seen two or three weasels in this +way. The young rabbits and leverets are of course their prey also. But +after the corn is cut you may wait and watch a whole day in the fields +and not see a weasel. They have gone to the thick mounds, the covers, +woods, and forests, and therein will hunt the winter through. + +The stag is still feeding peacefully; he is now scarce fifty yards away, +when he catches sight and is off. His body as he bounds seems to keep +just above the level of the fern. It is natural to follow him, though +of course in vain; the mead is left behind, and once more there is a +wall of fern on either side of the path. After a while a broad green +drive opens, and is much more easy to walk along. But where does it go? +for presently it divides into two, and then the fork pursued again +branches. Hush! what is that clattering? It sounds in several +directions, but nothing is visible. + +Then a sharp turn of the drive opens on a long narrow grassy valley, +which is crowded with deer. Parties of thirty or forty are grazing; and +yonder, farther away by themselves, there must be nearly a hundred +fawns. Standing behind a tree, it is a pleasant sight to watch them; +but after a while comes back the thought, dismissed contemptuously long +since--the afternoon is advancing, and is it possible to be lost? The +truth is we are lost for the time. + +It is impossible to retrace one's footsteps, the paths and drives are so +intricate, and cross and branch so frequently. There are no landmarks. +Perhaps from the rising ground across the valley a view may be obtained. +On emerging into the open, the whole herd of deer and fawns move slowly +into the forest and disappear. From the hill there is nothing visible +but trees. If a tree be climbed to get a look-out, there is still +nothing but trees. Following a green drive as a forlorn hope, there +comes again the rattling as of clubs and spears, and strange grunting +sounds. It is the bucks fighting; and they are not altogether safe to +approach. But time is going on; unless we can soon discover the way, we +may have to remain till the tawny wood-owls flit round the trees. + +There comes the tinkle-tinkle of a bell: a search shows two or three +cows, one of which, after the fashion of the old time, carries a bell. +She comes and butts one playfully, and insists on her poll being rubbed. +Then there is more grunting, but of a different kind--this time easily +recognised: it is a herd of swine searching for the beechmast and +acorns. With them, fortunately, comes the swineherd--a lad, who shows a +drive which leads to the nearest edge of the forest. + +Half an hour after leaving the swineherd, a rabbit is found sitting on +his haunches, motionless, with the head drooping on one side. He takes +no notice--he is dying. Just beneath one ear is a slight trace of +blood--it is the work of a weasel, who fled on hearing approaching +footsteps. Soon a film must form over the beautiful eye of the hunted +creature: let us in mercy strike him a sharp blow on the head with the +heavy end of the walking-stick, and so spare him the prolonged sense of +death. A hundred yards further is a gate, and beyond that an arable +field. On coming near the gate a hawk glides swiftly downwards over the +hedge that there joins the forest. A cloud of sparrows instantly rise +from the stubble, and fly chirping in terror to the hedge for shelter; +but one is too late, the hawk has him in his talons. Yonder is a row of +wheat ricks, the fresh straw with which they have just been covered +contrasting with the brown thatch of the farmhouse in the hollow. There +a refreshing glass of ale is forthcoming, and the way is pointed out. + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +THE ROOKERY--BUILDING NESTS--YOUNG BIRDS--ROOK-SHOOTING--STEALING +ROOKS--ANTICS IN THE AIR--MODE OF FLIGHT--WHITE ROOKS. + +The city built by the rooks in the elms of the great pasture field (the +Warren, near Wick farmhouse) is divided into two main parts; the trees +standing in two rows, separated by several hundred yards of sward. But +the inhabitants appear to be all more or less related, for they travel +amicably in the same flock and pay the usual visit to the trees at the +same hour. Some scattered elms form a line of communication between the +chief quarters, and each has one or more nests in it. Besides these, +the oaks in the hedgerows surrounding the field support a few nests, +grouped three or four, in close neighbourhood. In some trees near the +distant ash copse there are more nests whose owners probably sprang from +the same stock, but were exiled, or migrated, and do not hold much +communion with the capital. + +In early days men seem to have frequently dug their entrenchments or +planted their stockades on the summit of hills. To the rooks their +trees are their hills, giving security from enemies. The wooden houses +in the two main streets are evidently of greater antiquity than those +erected in the outlying settlements. The latter are not large or thick: +they are clearly the work of one, or at most two, seasons only; for it +is noticeable that when rooks build at a distance from the centre of +population they are some time before they finally decide on a site, +abandoning one place after another. But the nests forming the principal +streets are piled up to a considerable height--fresh twigs being added +every year--and are also thick and bulky. The weight of the whole must +be a heavy burden to the trees. + +Much skill is shown in the selection of the branches upon which the +foundations are laid. In the first place, the branch must fork +sufficiently to hold the bottom twigs firmly and to give some +side-support. Then it must be a branch more or less vertical, or it +would swing with the wind too much up and down as well as to and fro. +Thirdly, there should be a clear or nearly clear space above the nest to +give easy access, and to afford room for it to increase in size +annually. For this reason, perhaps, nests are generally placed near the +top or outer sides of the tree, where the boughs are smaller, and every +upward extension reaches a clearer place. Fourthly, the bough ought not +to be too stiff and firm; it should yield a little, and sway easily, +though only in a small degree, to the breeze. If too stiff, in strong +gales the nest runs the risk of being blown clean out of the tree. +Fifthly, no other branch must rub against the one bearing the principal +weight of the nest, for that would loosen the twigs in time, and +dislocate the entire structure. Finally, rooks like an adjacent bough +on which the bird, not actually engaged in incubation can perch and +`caw' to his mate, and which is also useful to alight on when bringing +food for the young. + +It may be that the difficulty of finding trees which afford all these +necessary conditions is one reason why rooks who settle at a distance +from their city seem long before they can please themselves. The +ingenuity exercised in the selection of the bough and in the placing of +the twigs is certainly very remarkable. When the wind blows furiously +you may see the nest moving gently, riding on the swaying boughs, while +one of the birds perches on a branch close by, and goes up and down like +a boat on the waves. Except by the concussion of branches beating hard +against the nest, it is rarely broken; up to a certain point it would +seem as if the older nests are the firmest, perhaps because of their +weight. Sometimes one which has been blown down in the winter--when the +absence of protecting leaves gives the wind more power on them--retains +its general form even after striking against branches in its descent and +after collision with the earth. + +Elms are their favourite trees for building in. Oak and ash are also +used, but where there are sufficient elms they seem generally preferred. +These trees, as a rule, grow higher than any others ordinarily found in +the fields, and are more frequently seen in groups, rows, or avenues, +thus giving the rook facilities for placing a number of nests in close +neighbourhood. The height of the elm affords greater safety, and the +branches are perhaps better suited for their purpose. + +After building in an elm for many years--perhaps ever since the owner +can remember--rooks will suddenly desert it. There are the old nests +still; but no effort is made to repair them, and no new ones are made. +The winds and storms presently loosen the framework, about which no care +is now taken, and portions are blown down. Then by-and-by the discovery +is made that the tree is rapidly dying. The leaves do not appear, or if +they do they wither and turn yellow before Midsummer: gradually the +branches decay and fall of their own weight or before the wind. + +No doubt if anyone had carefully examined the tree he would have +observed signs of decay long before the rooks abandoned it; but those +who pass the same trees day after day for years do not observe minute +changes, or, if they do, as nature is slow in her movements, get so +accustomed to the sight of the fungi about the base, and the opening in +the bark where the decomposing touchwood shows, as to think that it will +always be so. At last the rooks desert it, and then the truth is +apparent. + +Their nests, being heavy, are not safe on branches up which the +strengthening sap no longer rises; and in addition to the nest there is +the weight of the sitting-bird, and often that of the other who perches +temporarily on the edge. As the branches die they become stiff, and +will not bend to the gale this immobility is also dangerous to the nest. +So long as the bough yields and sways gently--not much, but still a +little--the strong winds do no injury. When the bough becomes rigid, +the broad--side or wall of the nest offers an unyielding surface, which +is accordingly blown away. + +The nests which contain young are easily distinguished, despite the +height, by the almost continuous cry for food. The labour of feeding +the voracious creatures must be immense, and necessity may partly +account for the greater boldness of the old birds at that season. By +counting the nests from which the cry proceeds the condition of the +rookery is ascertained, and the amount of sport it will afford reckoned +with some certainty. By noting the nests from which the cry arose last, +it is known which trees to avoid in the rook-shooting; for the young do +not all come to maturity at the same time, and there are generally a +dozen or so which it is best to leave a week or a fortnight later than +the rest. + +When the young birds begin to quit the nests, and are observed perching +on the tree or fluttering from branch to branch, they must not be left +much longer before shooting, or they will wander and be lost. A very +few days will then make all the difference; and so it has often happened +that men expecting to make a great bag have been quite disappointed, +notwithstanding the evident number of nests; the shooting has been held +a day or so too late. The young birds get the use of their wings very +quickly, and their instinct rather seems to be to wander than to remain +in the immediate vicinity of their birthplace. + +Some think that the old birds endeavour to entice them away as much as +possible, knowing what is coming. It may be doubted if that is the case +with respect to the very young birds; but when the young ones are +capable of something like extended flight, and can cross a field without +much difficulty, I think the parents do attempt to lead them away. When +the shooting is in progress, if you will go a little distance from the +rookery, out of the excitement of the sport, you may sometimes see two +old rooks, one on each side of a young one, cawing to it with all their +might. The young bird is, perhaps, on the ground, or on a low hedge, +and the old birds are evidently endeavouring to get it to move. Yet +they have not learned the only way in which that can be done--i.e. by +starting themselves and flying a short distance, and waiting, when the +young bird will almost invariably follow. + +If you approach the trio the two old birds at once take flight, seeing +your gun, and the young bird in a few seconds goes after them. Had they +the sense to repeat this operation, they might often draw the young one +away from danger; as for their cawing, it does not seem to be quite +understood by their offspring, who have hardly yet learned their own +language. + +To appreciate this effort on the part of the old birds, it must be +recollected that immediately after the first shot the great mass of the +old rooks fly off in alarm. They go to some distance and then wheel +round and come back at an immense height, and there, collected in loose +order, circle round and round, cawing as they sail. For an old rook to +remain in or near the rookery when once the firing has commenced is the +exception, and must be a wonderful effort of moral courage, for of all +birds rooks seem most afraid of a gun; and naturally so, having +undergone, when themselves young, a baptism of fire. Those that escape +slaughter are for the most part early birds that come to maturity before +the majority, and so leave the trees before the date fixed for shooting +arrived, or acquire a power of flight sufficient to follow their parents +on the first alarm to a safe distance. They have, therefore, a good +opportunity of witnessing the destruction of their cousins, and do not +forget the lesson. + +Although the young birds upon getting out of the nest under ordinary +conditions seem to like to wander, yet if they are driven out or +startled by the shot they do not then at once endeavour to make for the +open country or to spread abroad, but appear rather to cling to the +place, as if the old nests could shelter them. After a while they begin +to understand the danger of this proceeding, and half an hour's rapid +firing causes the birds to spread about and get into the trees in the +hedges at some distance. There of course they are pursued, or killed +the next day, three-quarters of a mile or more away from home. It is +rare for old rooks to get shot, for the reason above stated: they rise +into the air out of reach. Those that are killed are generally such as +have lingered in the hope to save a young bird, and are mistaken and +shot as young themselves. + +Young birds may be easily distinguished by their slow uncertain flight +and general appearance of not knowing exactly where to go or what to do. +They are specially easy to pick out if you see them about to perch on a +tree. They go at the tree anyhow, crash in among the branches, and +rather fall on a perch than choose it. The old bird always enters a +tree carefully, as if he did not like to ruffle his feathers, and knew +precisely what sort of bough he preferred to settle on. Close to the +rookery there is no need to wait to pick out the young birds, because +they are all sure to be young birds there; but, as observed, old birds +will linger with young ones at a little distance, and may then be +mistaken--as also on the following day, when sportsmen go round to pick +up the outsiders, and frequently come on old and young together. The +old bird will not sit and let you aim at him perching; if you shoot him, +it must be on the wing. The young bird will sit and let you pick him +off with a crossbow, and even if a cartridge singes his wing he will +sometimes only hop a yard or two along the boughs. + +Though hard hit and shattered with shot, they will cling to the branches +convulsively, seeming to hang by the crook of the claw or by muscular +contraction even when perfectly dead, till lifted up by a shot fired +directly underneath, or till the bough itself is skilfully cut off by a +cartridge and both come down together. The young feathers being soft, +and the quills not so hard as in older birds, scarcely a rook-shooting +ever goes by without some one claiming to have made a tremendous long +shot, which is quite possible, as it does not require many pellets or +much force behind them. + +On dropping a rook, probably at some distance from the rookery, where +the men are whose duty it is to collect the slain, beware of carrying +the bird; let him lie, or at most throw him upon a bramble bush in a +conspicuous spot till a boy comes round. Rooks are perfectly infested +with vermin, which in a few minutes will pass up their legs on to your +hand, and cause an unpleasant irritation, though it is only temporary; +for the insects cannot exist long away from the bird. + +The young birds are occasionally stolen from the nests, notwithstanding +the difficulty of access. Young labourers will climb the trees, though +so large that they can scarcely grasp the trunk, and with few branches, +and those small for some height; for elms are often stripped up the +trunk to make the timber grow straight and free from the great branches +called `limbs.' Even when the marauder is in the tree he has some +difficulty in getting at the nests, which are placed where the boughs +diminish in size. Climbing-irons used to be sometimes employed for the +purpose. As elm trees are so conspicuous, these thieving practices +cannot well be carried on while it is light. So the rook-poachers go up +the trees in the dead of night; and as the old rooks would make a +tremendous noise and so attract attention, they carry a lantern with +them, the light from which silences the birds. So long as they can see +a light they will not caw. + +The time selected to rob a rookery is generally just before the date +fixed for the shooting, because the young birds are of little use for +cooking till about ready to fly. The trick, it is believed, has often +been played for the mere pleasure of spiting the owner, the very night +previous to the rook-shooting party being chosen. These robberies of +young rooks are much less frequent than they used to be. One reason why +those who possess any property in the country do not like to see a +labouring man with a gun is because he will shoot an old rook (and often +eat it), if he gets the opportunity, without reference to times or +seasons, whether they are building or not. + +The young rooks that escape being shot seem to be fed, or partly fed, by +the old birds for some time after they can fly well and follow their +parents. It is easy to know when there are young rooks in a flock +feeding in a field. At the first glance the rooks look scattered about, +without any order, each independent of the other. But in a few minutes +it will be noticed that here and there are groups of three, which keep +close together. These are formed of the parents and the young bird-- +apparently as big and as black as themselves--which they feed now and +then. The young bird, by attending to their motions, learns where to +find the best food. As late as July trios like this may sometimes be +seen. + +Besides the young birds that have the good fortune to pass unscathed +through the dangers of rook-shooting day, and escape being knocked over +afterwards, some few get off on account of having been born earlier than +the majority, thus possessing a stronger power of flight. Some nests +are known to be more forward than the others; but although the young +birds may be on the point of departing, they are not killed because the +noise of the firing would disturb the whole settlement. So that it +becomes the rook's interest to incubate a little in advance of the rest. + +After a few months they are put into another terrible fright--on the +first of September. Guns are going off in all directions, no matter +where they turn, so that they find it impossible to feel at ease, and +instead of feeding wheel about in the air, or settle on the trees. + +The glossy plumage of the rook will sometimes, when seen at a certain +angle, reflect the sun's rays in such a manner that instead of looking +black the bird appears clothed in shining light: it is as if the +feathers were polished like a mirror. In feeding they work in a grave, +steady way--a contrast to the restless starlings who so often accompany +them. They do not put a sentinel in a tree to give warning of the +approach of an enemy. The whole flock is generally on the ground +together, and, if half-a-dozen perch awhile on the trees, they soon +descend. So far are they from setting a watch, that if you pass up +outside the hedge to the leeward, on any side except where the wind +would carry the noise of footsteps to them, it is easy to get close-- +sometimes, if they are feeding near the hedge, within three or four +yards. Of course if a rook happens to be in a tree it will not be +possible to do so; but they do not set a sentinel for this purpose. + +Rooks, in a general way, seem more at their ease in the meadows than in +the arable fields. In the latter they are constantly fired at, if only +with blank charges, to alarm them from the seed besides being shouted at +and frightened with clappers. The bird-keeper's efforts are, however, +of very little avail. If he puts the flock up on one side of the field, +they lazily sail to a distant corner, and when he gets there go back +again. They are fully aware that he cannot injure them if they keep a +certain distance; but this perpetual driving to and fro makes them +suspicious. In the meadows it is rare for them to be shot at, and they +are consequently much less timid. + +At the same time they can perfectly well distinguish a gun from a +walking-stick. If you enter a meadow with a gun under your arm, and +find a flock feeding, they immediately cease searching for food and keep +a strict watch on your movements; and if you approach, they are off +directly. If you carry a walking-stick only, you may pass within thirty +yards sometimes, and they take little notice, provided you use the stick +in the proper way. But now lift it, and point it at the nearest rook, +and in an instant he is up with a `caw' of alarm--though he knows it is +not a gun--and flies just above the surface of the ground till he +considers himself safe from possibility of danger. Often the whole +flock will move before that gesture. It is noticeable that no wild +creatures, birds or animals, like anything pointed at them: you may +swing your stick freely, but point it, and off goes the finch that +showed no previous alarm. So too, dogs do not seem easy if a stick is +pointed at them. + +Rooks are easily approached in the autumn, when gorging the acorns. +They may often be seen flying carrying an acorn in the bill. Sometimes +a flock will set to work and tear up the grass by the roots over a wide +space--perhaps nearly half an acre--in search of a favourite beetle. +The grass is pulled up in little wisps, just about as much as they can +hold in their beaks at a time. In spring they make tracks through the +mowing grass--not in all the meadows, but only in one here and there, +where they find the food they prefer. These tracks are very numerous, +and do the grass some damage. Besides following the furrows made by the +plough, and destroying grubs, beetles, wireworm, and other pests in +incalculable numbers, they seem to find a quantity of insect food in +unripe corn; for they often frequent wheatfields only just turning +yellow, and where the grain is not yet developed. Except perhaps where +they are very numerous, they do much more good than harm. + +Rooks may now and then be seen in the autumn, on the hayricks; they pull +the thatch out, and will do in this way an injury to the roof. +Therefore old black bottles are often placed on the thatch in order to +scare them. It is said that they pull out the straw for the stray +grains left in the ear by the threshing machine. This seems doubtful. +It appears more probable that some insect found on the straw attracts +them. + +If you are walking past a feeding flock, the nearest rook to you will +often exhibit a ridiculous indecision as to whether he shall fly or not. +He stretches his neck and leans forward as if about to spring, stops, +utters a questioning `Cawk?' then watches you a moment and gives a hop, +just opens his wings, shuts them, and descends within a couple of feet. +`Cawk!' again. Finally, if you turn from your course and make a step +towards him, he rises, flaps his wings three or four times, extends +them, and glides a dozen yards to alight once more. + +Sometimes a flock will rise in the air, and silently wheel round and +round after each other, gradually ascending and drifting slowly with the +current till they reach a great height. When they soar like this it is +said to foretell fine weather. At another time a flock will go up and +wheel about in the strangest irregular manner. Every now and then one +will extend his wings, holding them rigid, and dive downwards, in his +headlong descent wavering to and fro like a sheet of paper falling edge +first. He falls at a great pace, and looks as if he must be dashed to +pieces against a tree or the earth; but he rights himself at the last +moment, and glides away and up again with ease. Occasionally two or +three rooks may be seen doing this at once, while the rest whirl about +as if possessed; and those that are diving utter a gurgling sound like +the usual cawk prolonged--`caw-wouk.' These antics are believed to +foretell rough winds. + +The rook, like other broad-winged birds, often makes much leeway in +flying, though there be only a moderate wind. The beak points in one +direction, in which the bird is apparently proceeding, but if observed +closely it will be found that the real course is somewhat sideways. He +is making leeway. So it is that a rook which looks as if coming +straight towards you--as if he must inevitably go overhead--passes some +distance to one side. He appears slow on the wing, as if to go fast +required more energy than he possessed, yet he travels over great +distances without the least apparent exertion. + +When going with the wind he sails high in the air, only flapping his +wings sufficiently to maintain balance and steering power. But when +working against the wind, if it is a strong gale, his wings are used +rapidly, and he comes down near the surface of the ground. He then +flies just above the grass, only high enough to escape touching it, and +follows the contour of the field. At the hedges he has to rise, and +immediately meets the full force of the breeze. It is so powerful +sometimes that he cannot overcome it, and his efforts simply lift him in +the air, like a kite drawn against the wind. For a few moments he +appears stationary, his own impetus and the contending wind balancing +each other, and holding him suspended. Then he rises again, but still +finding the current too strong, tacks like a ship to port or starboard, +and so works aslant into the gale. Shortly afterwards he comes down +again, if the field be a large one, and glides forward in the same +manner as before, close to the surface. In crossing the lake too, +against the wind, he flies within a few feet of the water. + +During such a gale a rook may often be seen struggling to get over a row +of trees, and stationary, though using his wings vigorously, suspended a +little way above the topmost branches. Frequently he has to give up the +attempt, turn back, and make a detour. + +Though rooks usually go in flocks, individuals sometimes get separated, +and may be seen flying alone on the way to rejoin their friends. A +flock of rooks, on rising, occasionally divides into two or more +parties. Each section wheels off on its own course, while sometimes a +small number of those who chance to be near the centre of the original +formation seem at a loss which company to follow, and settle down again +on the field. So a dozen or more become separated from the crowd, and +presently, when they rise, they too divide; three or four fly one way to +join one section, and others take another route. Individuals thus find +themselves alone; but that causes them no uneasiness, as they have their +well-known places of rendezvous, and have only to fly to certain fields +to be sure of meeting their friends, or at most to wait about near the +nesting-trees till the rest come. + +It must not, therefore, be supposed that every one flying alone is a +crow. Crows are scarce in comparison with rooks. In severe weather a +rook will sometimes venture into the courtyard of the farmstead. + +Two rooks marked with white resided at the rookery here for several +years. One had sufficient white to be distinguished at a distance; the +other seemed to have but one or two feathers, which were, however, +visible enough when near the bird. As they have not been seen lately, +they have probably been shot by some one who thought it clever to +destroy anything out of the ordinary. Most large rookeries can either +show a rook with white feathers, or have well authenticated records of +their former existence; but though not rare, people naturally like to +preserve them when they do occur, and it is extremely annoying to have +them wantonly killed. + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +ROOKS RETURNING TO ROOST--VAST FLOCKS--ROOK PARLIAMENT--THE TWO ROOK +ARMIES AND THEIR ROUTES--ROOK LAWS, TRADITIONS, AND ANCIENT +HISTORY--"THROWS" OF TIMBER--THIEVING JACKDAWS. + +As evening approaches, and the rooks begin to wing their way homewards, +sometimes a great number of them will alight upon the steep ascent close +under the entrenchment on the downs which has been described, and from +whence the wood and beech trees where they sleep can be seen. They do +not seem so much in search of food, of which probably there is not a +great deal to be found in the short, dried-up herbage and hard soil, as +to rest here, half-way home from the arable fields. Sometimes they +wheel and circle in fantastic flight over the very brow of the down, +just above the rampart; occasionally, in the raw cold days of winter, +they perch moping in disconsolate mood upon the bare branches of the +clumps of trees on the ridge. + +After the nesting time is over and they have got back to their old +habits--which during that period are quite reversed--it is a sight to +see from hence the long black stream in the air steadily flowing onwards +to the wood below. They stretch from here to the roosting-trees, fully +a mile and a half--literally as the crow flies; and backwards in the +opposite direction the line reaches as far as the eye can see. It is +safe to estimate that the aerial army's line of march extends over quite +five miles in one unbroken corps. The breadth they occupy in the +atmosphere varies--now twenty yards, now fifty, now a hundred, on an +average say fifty yards; but rooks do not fly very close together like +starlings, and the mass, it may be observed, fly on the same plane. +Instead of three or four layers one above the other, the greater number +pass by at the same height from the ground, side by side on a level, as +soldiers would march upon a road: not meaning, of course, an absolute, +but a relative level. This formation is more apparent from an +elevation--as it were, up among them--than from below; and looking along +their line towards the distant wood it is like glancing under a black +canopy. + +Small outlying parties straggle from the line--now on one side, now on +the other; sometimes a few descend to alight on trees in the meadows, +where doubtless their nests were situated in the spring. For it is a +habit of theirs, months after the nesting is over and also before it +begins, to pay a flying visit to the trees in the evening, calling _en +route_ to see that all is well and to assert possession. + +The rustling sound of these thousands upon thousands of wings beating +the air with slow steady stroke can hardly be compared to anything else +in its weird oppressiveness, so to say: it is a little like falling +water, but may be best likened, perhaps, to a vast invisible broom +sweeping the sky. Every now and then a rook passes with ragged wing-- +several feathers gone, so that you can see daylight through it; +sometimes the feathers are missing from the centre, leaving a great gap, +so that it looks as if the bird had a large wing on this side and on the +other two narrow ones. There is a rough resemblance between these and +the torn sails of some of the old windmills which have become dark in +colour from long exposure to the weather, and have been rent by the +storms of years. Rooks can fly with gaps of astonishing size in their +wings, and do not seem much incommoded by the loss--caused, doubtless, +by a charge of shot in the rook-shooting, or by the small sharp +splinters of flint with which the bird-keepers sometimes load their +guns, not being allowed to use shot. + +Near their nesting-trees their black feathers may be picked up by dozens +in the grass; they beat them out occasionally against the small boughs, +and sometimes in fighting. If seen from behind, the wings of the rook, +as he spreads them and glides, slowly descending, preparatory to +alighting, slightly turn up at the edges like the rim of a hat, but much +less curved. From a distance as he flies he appears to preserve a level +course, neither rising nor falling; but if observed nearer it will be +seen that with every stroke of the wings the body is lifted some inches, +and sinks as much immediately afterwards. + +As the black multitude floats past overhead with deliberate, easy +flight, their trumpeters and buglemen, the jackdaws--two or three to +every company--utter their curious chuckle; for the jackdaw is a bird +which could not keep silence to save his life, but must talk after his +fashion, while his grave, solemn companions move slowly onwards, rarely +deigning to `caw' him a reply. But away yonder at the wood, above the +great beech trees, where so vast a congregation is gathered together, +there is a mighty uproar and commotion: a seething and bubbling of the +crowds, now settling on the branches, now rising in sable clouds, each +calling to the other with all his might, the whole population delivering +its opinions at once. + +It is an assemblage of a hundred republics. We know how free States +indulge in speech with their parliaments and congresses and senates, +their public meetings, and so forth: here are a hundred such nations, +all with perfect liberty of tongue holding forth unsparingly, and in a +language which consists of two or three syllables indefinitely repeated. +The din is wonderful--each republic as its forces arrive adding to the +noise, and for a long time unable to settle upon their trees, but +feeling compelled to wheel around and discourse. In spring each tribe +has its special district, its own canton and city, in its own trees away +in the meadows. Later on they all meet here in the evening. It is a +full hour or more before the orations have all been delivered, and even +then small bands rush up into the air still dissatisfied. + +This great stream of rooks passing over the hills meets another great +stream as it approaches the wood, crossing up from the meadows. From +the rampart there may be seen, perhaps a mile and a half away, a dim +black line crossing at right angles--converging on the wood, which +itself stands on the edge of the table-land from which the steeper downs +arise. This second army is every whit as numerous, as lengthy, and as +regular in its route as the first. + +Every morning, from the beech trees where they have slept, safe at that +elevation from all the dangers of the night, there set out these two +vast expeditionary corps. Regularly the one flies steadily eastward +over the downs; as regularly the other flies steadily northwards over +the vale and meadows. Doubtless in different country districts their +habits in this respect vary; but here it is always east and always +north. If any leave the wood for the south or the west, as probably +they do, they go in small bodies and are quickly lost sight of. The two +main divisions sail towards the sunrise and towards the north star. + +They preserve their ranks for at least two miles from the wood; and then +gradually first one and then another company falls out, and wheeling +round, descends upon some favourite field, till by degrees, spreading +out like a fan, the army melts away. In the evening the various +companies, which may by that time have worked far to the right or to the +left, gradually move into line. By-and-by the vanguard comes sweeping +up, and each regiment rises from the meadow or the hill, and takes its +accustomed place in the return journey. + +So that although if you casually observe a flock of rooks in the daytime +they seem to wander hither and thither just as fancy leads, or as they +are driven by passers-by, in reality they have all their special haunts; +they adhere to certain rules, and even act in concert, thousands upon +thousands of them at once, as if in obedience to the word of command, +and as if aware of the precise moment at which to move. They have their +laws, from which there is no deviation: they are handed down unaltered +from generation to generation. Tradition, indeed, seems to be their +main guide, as it is with savage human tribes. They have their +particular feeding grounds; and so you may notice that, comparing ten or +a dozen fields, one or two will almost always be found to be frequented +by rooks while the rest are vacant. + +Here, for instance, is a meadow close to a farmstead--what is usually +called the home-field, from its proximity to a house--here day after day +rooks alight and spend hours in it, as much at their ease as the nag or +the lambs brought up by hand. Another field, at a distance, which to +the human eye appears so much more suitable, being retired, quiet, and +apparently quite as full of food, is deserted; they scarcely come near +it. The home-field itself is not the attraction, because other +home-fields are not so favoured. + +The tenacity with which rooks cling to localities is often illustrated +near great cities where buildings have gradually closed in around their +favourite haunts. Yet on the small waste spots covered with cinders and +dustheaps, barren and unlovely, the rooks still alight; and you may see +them, when driven up from such places, perching on the telegraph wires +over the very steam of the locomotives as they puff into the station. + +I think that neither considerations of food, water, shelter, or +convenience, are always the determining factors in the choice made by +birds of the spots they frequent; for I have seen many cases in which +all of these were evidently quite put on one side. Birds to ordinary +observation seem so unfettered, to live so entirely without rhyme or +reason, that it is difficult to convey the idea that the precise +contrary is really the case. + +Returning to these two great streams of rooks, which pour every evening +in converging currents from the north and east upon the wood; why do +they do this? Why not go forth to the west, or to the south, where +there are hills and meadows and streams in equal number? Why not +scatter abroad, and return according to individual caprice? Why, to go +still further, do rooks manoeuvre in such immense numbers, and crows fly +only in pairs? The simple truth is that birds, like men, have a +history. They are unconscious of it, but its accomplished facts affect +them still and shape the course of their existence. Without doubt, if +we could trace that history back there are good and sufficient reasons +why rooks prefer to fly in this particular locality, to the east and to +the north. Something may perhaps be learnt by examining the routes +along which they fly. + +The second division--that which goes northwards, after flying little +more than a mile in a straight line--passes over Wick Farm, and +disperses gradually in the meadows surrounding and extending far below +it. The rooks whose nests are placed in the elms of the Warren belong +to this division, and, as their trees are the nearest to the great +central roosting-place, they are the first to quit the line of march in +the morning, descending to feed in the fields around their property. On +the other hand, in the evening, as the army streams homewards, they are +the last to rise and join the returning host. + +So that there are often rooks in and about the Warren later in the +evening after those whose habitations are farther away have gone by, +for, having so short a distance to fly, they put off the movement till +the last moment. Before watches became so common a possession, the +labouring people used, they say, to note the passage overhead of the +rooks in the morning in winter as one of their signs of time, so regular +was their appearance; and if the fog hid them, the noise from a thousand +black wings and throats could not be missed. + +If, from the rising ground beyond the Warren or from the downs beyond +that, the glance is allowed to travel slowly over the vale northwards, +instead of the innumerable meadows which are really there, it will +appear to consist of one vast forest. Of the hamlet not far distant +there is nothing visible but the white wall of a cottage, perhaps, +shining in the sun, or the pale blue smoke curling upwards. This wooded +appearance is caused by timber trees standing in the hedgerows, in the +copses at the corners of the meadows, and by groups and detached trees +in the middle of the fields. + +Many hedges are full of elms, some have rows of oaks; some meadows have +trees growing so thickly in all four hedges as to seem surrounded by a +timber wall; one or two have a number of ancient spreading oaks dotted +about in the field itself, or standing in rows. But there are not +nearly so many trees as there used to be. Numerous hedges have been +grubbed to make the fields larger. + +Within the last thirty years two large falls of timber have taken place, +when the elms especially were thrown wholesale. The old men, however, +recall a much greater `throw,' as they term it, of timber, which +occurred twice as long ago. Then before that they have a tradition that +a still earlier `throw' took place, when the timber chiefly went to the +dockyards for the building of those wooden walls which held the world at +bay. These traditions go back, therefore, some eighty or a hundred +years. One field in particular is pointed out where stood a double row +or avenue of great oaks leading to nothing but a farmstead of the +ordinary sort, of which there is not the slightest record that it ever +was anything but a farmhouse. Now avenues of great oaks are not planted +to lead to farmsteads. Besides these, it is said, there were oaks in +most of the fields--oaks that have long since disappeared, the prevalent +tree being elm. + +While all these `throws' of timber have successively taken place, no +attempt has been made to fill up the gaps; no planting of acorns, no +shielding with rails the young saplings from the ravages of cattle. If +a young tree could struggle up it could; if not, it perished. At the +last two `throws,' especially, young trees which ought to have been +saved were ruthlessly cut down. Yet even now the place is well +timbered; so that it is easy to form some idea of the forest-like +appearance it must have presented a hundred years ago, when rows of +giant oaks led up to that farmhouse door. + +Then there are archaeological reasons, which it would be out of place to +mention, why in very ancient days a forest, in all probability, stood +hereabouts. It seems reasonable to suppose that in one way or another +the regular flight of the second army of rooks passing down into this +district was originally attracted by the trees. Three suggestions arise +out of the circumstances. + +The wood in which both streams of rooks roost at night stands on the +last slope of the downs; behind it to the south extend the hills, and +the open tilled upland plains; below it northwards are the meadows. It +has, therefore, much the appearance of the last surviving remnant of the +ancient forest. There has been a wood there time out of mind: there are +references to the woods of the locality dating from the sixteenth +century. Now if we suppose (and such seems to have been really the +case) the unenclosed woodlands below gradually cleared of trees--thereby +doubtless destroying many rookeries--the rooks driven away would +naturally take refuge in the wood remaining. There the enclosure +protected them, and there the trees, being seldom or never cut down, or +if cut down felled with judgment and with a view to future timber, grew +to great size and in such large groups as they prefer. But as birds are +creatures of habit, their descendants in the fiftieth generation would +still revisit the old places in the meadows. + +Secondly, although so many successive `throws' of timber thinned out the +trees, yet there may still be found more groups and rows of elms and oak +in this direction than in any other; that is, a line drawn northwards +from the remaining wood passes through a belt of well-timbered country. +On other side of this belt there is much less timber; so that the rooks +that desired to build nests beyond the limits of the enclosed wood still +found in the old places the best trees for their purpose. Here may be +seen far more rookeries than in any other direction. Hardly a farmhouse +lying near this belt but has got its rookery, large or small. Once +these rookeries were established, an inducement to follow this route +would arise in the invariable habit of the birds of visiting their +nesting-trees even when the actual nesting time is past. + +Thirdly, if the inquiry be carried still farther back, it is possible +that the line taken by the rooks indicates the line of the first +clearings in very early days. The clearing away of trees and underwood, +by opening the ground and rendering it accessible, must be very +attractive to birds, and rooks are particularly fond of following the +plough. Now although the district is at present chiefly meadow land, +numbers of these meadows were originally ploughed fields, of which there +is evidence in the surface of the fields themselves, where the regular +`lands' and furrows are distinctly visible. + +One or all of these suggestions may perhaps account for the course +followed by the rooks. In any case it seems natural to look for the +reason in the trees. The same idea applies to the other stream of rooks +which leaves the wood for the eastward every morning, flying along the +downs. In describing the hill district, evidence was given of the +existence of woods or forest land upon the downs in the olden time. +Detached copses and small woods are still to be found; and it happens +that a part of this district, in the line of the eastward flighty +belonged to a `chase' of which several written notices are extant. + +The habits of rooks seem more regular in winter than in summer. In +winter the flocks going out in the morning or returning in the evening +appear to pass nearly at the same hour day after day. But in summer +they often stay about late. This last summer [1878] I noticed a whole +flock, some hundreds in number, remaining out till late--till quite +dusk--night after night, and always in the same place. It was an arable +field, and there they stood close together on the ground, so close that +in spots it was difficult to distinguish individuals. They were silent +and still, making no apparent attempt at feeding. The only motion I +observed was when a few birds arrived and alighted among them. Where +they thus crowded together the earth was literally black. + +It was about three-quarters of a mile from their nesting-trees, but +nesting had been over for more than two months. This particular field +had recently been ploughed by steam tackle, and was the only one for a +considerable distance that had been ploughed for some time. There they +stood motionless, side by side, as if roosting on the ground; possibly +certain beetles were numerous just there (for it was noticeable that +they chose the same part of the field evening after evening), and came +crawling up out of the earth at night. + +The jackdaws which--so soon as the rooks pack after nesting and fly in +large flocks--are always with them, may be distinguished by their +smaller size and the quicker beats of their wings, even when not +uttering their well-known cry. Jackdaws will visit the hencoops if not +close to the house, and help themselves to the food meant for the fowls. +Poultry are often kept in rickyards, a field or two distant from the +homestead, and it is then amusing to watch the impudent attempts of the +jackdaws at robbery. Four or five will perch on the post and rails, +intent on the tempting morsels: sitting with their heads a little on one +side and peering over. Suddenly one thinks he sees an opportunity. +Down he hops, and takes a peck, but before he has hardly seized it, a +hen darts across, running at him with beak extended like lance in rest. +Instantly he is up on the rail again, and the impetus of the hen's +charge carries her right under him. + +Then, while her back is turned, down hops a second and helps himself +freely. Out rushes another hen, and up goes the jackdaw. A pause +ensues for a few minutes: presently a third black rascal dashes right +into the midst of the fowls, picks up a morsel, and rises again before +they can attack him. The way in which the jackdaw dodges the hens +though alighting among them, and as it were for the moment surrounded, +is very clever; and it is laughable to see the cool impudence with which +he perches again on the rail, and looks down demurely, not a whit +abashed, on the feathered housewife he has just been doing his best to +rob. + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +NOTES ON BIRDS--NIGHTINGALES--CHAFFINCHES--MIGRATION--PACKING-- +INTERMARRIAGE--PEEWITS--CROWS--CUCKOOS--GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. + +The nightingale is one of the birds whose habit of returning every year +to the same spot can hardly be overlooked by anyone. Hawthorn and hazel +are supposed to attract them: I doubt it strongly. If there is a +hawthorn bush near their favourite nesting-place they will frequent it +by choice, but of itself it will not bring nightingales. They seem to +fix upon localities in the most capricious manner. In this particular +district they are moderately plentiful; yet in the whole of a large +parish (some five miles across) they are only found in one place. The +wood which is the roosting-place of all the rooks, large as it is, has +but one haunt of the nightingale. Just in one special spot they may be +heard, and nowhere else. But having selected a locality, they come back +to it as regularly as the swallows. + +In another county in the same latitude there is a small copse of birch +which borders a much-frequented road. Here the stream of vehicles and +passengers is nearly continuous; and the birch copse abounds with +nightingales in the spring. On one fine morning I counted eight birds +singing at once. The young birds seemed afterwards as numerous as the +sparrows. Never, in the wildest district I have ever visited, have I +seen so many. They had become so accustomed to passers-by that they +took no notice unless purposely disturbed. Several times I stood under +an oak bough that projected across the sward by the roadside, with a +nightingale perched on it overhead straining his throat. The bough was +some twelve feet high, and in full view of everyone. This road was +constructed about a hundred years ago; and it would be interesting to +learn if a country lane preceded it, well sheltered on both sides by +thick hedges. Birds are fond of such places, and, having once formed +the habit of coming there, would continue to do so after the highway was +laid down. + +It has been stated that the flocks of chaffinches which may be seen in +winter consist entirely of females. Male chaffinches are rarely seen: +they have migrated, or in some other manner disappeared. Yet so soon as +the spring comes on the males make their presence known by calling their +defiant notes from every elm along the road. Last spring [1878] I fell +into conversation with a fowler. He had a cock chaffinch in a cage +covered with a black cloth, except on one side. The cage was placed on +the sward beside the--road, and near it a stuffed cock bird stood on the +grass. Two pieces of whalebone smeared with bird-lime formed a pointed +arch over the stuffed chaffinch. The live decoy bird in the cage from +time to time uttered a few notes, which were immediately answered by a +wild bird in the elms overhead. These notes are a challenge; and the +bird in the tree supposes them to proceed from the stuffed bird in the +grass, and descends to fight him, when, as the deceived bird alights, +his wings or feet come in contact with the whalebone--sometimes he +perches on it--and the lime holds him fast. + +At that season (March) the cock birds have an irresistible inclination +to do battle; they are ceaselessly challenging each other, and the +fowler takes advantage of it to snare them. Now this man said that +these chaffinches sold for 6 shillings the dozen, and that when the +birds were `on,' as he called it, he could catch five dozen a day. In a +walk of four or five miles I passed half-a-dozen such fellows, with +cages and stuffed chaffinches. This alone proves that cock chaffinches +are very numerous in spring. Where, then, are they in winter, if the +flocks of chaffinches at that period consist almost exclusively of +female birds? Probably they fly in small bodies of three or four, or +singly, and so escape observation. But this division of the sexes +presents a curious resemblance to the social customs discovered amongst +certain savages. During the winter the birds separate, and the females +`pack.' In the spring the males appear, and, after a period of fighting +for the mastery, pair, and the nests are built. After the young are +reared, song ceases, and the old haunts are deserted. This summer I was +much struck with this partial migration, perhaps the more so because +observed in a fresh locality. + +During the spring and summer I daily followed a road for some three +miles which I had found to pass through a district much-frequented by +birds. The birch coppice so favoured by nightingales was that way; and, +by the bye, the wrynecks were almost equally numerous; and the question +has occurred to me whether these birds are companions, in a sense, of +the nightingale, having noticed them in other places to be much +together. All spring and summer the hedges, coppices, brakes, thickets, +furze lands, and cornfields abounded with bird life. About the middle +of August there was a notable decrease. Early in September the places +previously so populous seemed almost deserted; by the middle of the +month quite deserted. + +There were no chaffinches in the elms or in the road, and scarcely a +sparrow; not a yellowhammer on the hedge by the cornfield; only a very +few greenfinches; not a single bullfinch or goldfinch. Blackbirds, +thrushes, and robins alone remained. The way to find what birds are +about is to watch one of their favourite drinking and bathing-places; +then it is easy to see which are absent. Where had all these birds gone +to? In the middle of the fields of stubble there were flocks of +sparrows--almost innumerable sparrows--and some finches, but not, +apparently, enough to account for all that had left the hedges and +trees. That may be explained by their being scattered over so many +broad acres--miles of arable land being open to them. + +But the migration from the hedgerows was very marked. They became quite +empty and silent about the middle of September. This state of things +continued for little more than a week--meaning the absolute silence-- +then a bird or two appeared in places at long intervals. They now came +back rapidly, till, on the 28th, the `fink, chink' of the finches +sounded almost as merrily as before. The greenfinches flew from tree to +tree in parties of four, six, or more, calling to each other in their +happy confidential way. On that day the trees and hedges seemed to +become quite populous again with finches. The sparrows, too, were busy +in the roads once more. For a week previously every now and then a +single lark might be heard singing for a few minutes: they had been +silent before. On the 28th half-a-dozen could be heard singing at once, +and now and then a couple might be seen chasing each other as if full of +gaiety. It was indeed almost like a second spring: at the same time a +few buttercups bloomed, to add to the illusion. + +This migration of the finches from the hedgerows out into the fields, +and their coming back, is very striking. It may possibly be connected +with the phenomenon of `packing;' for they seem to go away by twos and +threes, to disappear gradually, but to return almost all at once, and in +parties or flocks. The number in the flocks varies a great deal: it is +a common opinion that it depends on the weather, and that in hard +winters, when the cold is severe and prolonged, the flocks are much +larger. Wood-pigeons are seldom, it is said, seen in great flocks till +the winter is advanced. + +Has the date of the harvest any influence upon the migration of birds? +The harvest in some counties is, of course, much earlier than in +others--a fact of which the itinerant labourer takes advantage, +following the wave of ripening grass and corn. By the time they have +mown the grass or reaped the wheat, as the case may be, in one county, +the crops are ripe in another, to which they then wend their way. + +One of the very earliest counties, perhaps, is Surrey. The white bloom +of the blackthorn seems to show there a full fortnight earlier than it +does on the same line of latitude not many miles farther west. The +almond trees exhibit their lovely pink blossom; the pears bloom, and +presently the hawthorn comes out into full leaf, when a degree of +longitude to the west the hedges are bare and only just showing a bud. +Various causes probably contribute to this--difference of elevation, +difference of soil, and so forth. Now the spring visitors--as the +cuckoo, the swallow, and wryneck--appear in Surrey considerably sooner +than they do farther west. The cuckoo is sometimes a full week earlier. +It would seem natural to suppose that the more forward state of +vegetation in that county has something to do with the earlier +appearance of the bird. But I should hesitate to attribute it entirely +to that cause, for it sometimes happens that birds act in direct +opposition to what we should consider the most eligible course. + +For instance, the redwing is one of our most prominent winter visitors. +Flocks of redwings and fieldfares are commonly seen during the end of +the season. They come as winter approaches, they leave as it begins to +grow warm. In every sense they are birds of passage: any ploughboy will +tell you so. (By-the-by, the ploughboys call the fieldfares `velts.' +Is not `velt' a Northern word for field?) But one spring--it was +rapidly verging on summer--I was struck day after day by hearing a loud, +sweet but unfamiliar note in a certain field. Fancying that most bird +notes were known to me, this new song naturally arrested my attention. +In a little while I succeeded in tracing it to an oak tree. I got under +the oak tree, and there on a bough was a redwing singing with all his +might. It should be remarked that neither redwing nor fieldfare sings +during the winter; they of course have their `call' and cry of alarm, +but by no stretch of courtesy could it be called a song. But this +redwing was singing--sweet and very loud, far louder than the old +familiar notes of the thrush. The note rang out clear and high, and +somehow sounded strangely unfamiliar among English meadows and English +oaks. + +Then, looking farther and watching about the hedges there, I soon found +that the bird was not alone--there were three or four pairs of redwings +in close neighbourhood, all evidently bent upon remaining to breed. To +make quite sure, I shot one. Afterwards I found a nest, and had the +pleasure of seeing the young birds come to maturity and fly. + +Nothing could be more thoroughly opposed to the usual habits of the +bird. There may be other instances recorded, but what one sees oneself +leaves so much deeper an impression. The summer that followed was a +very fine one. It is instances like this that make one hesitate to +dogmatise too much as to the why and wherefore of bird-ways. Yet it is +just the speculation as to that why and wherefore which increases the +pleasure of observing them. + +Then there is the corncrake, of whose curious tricks in the mowing grass +I have already written. The crake's rules of migration are not easily +reconciled with any theory I have ever heard of. In the particular +locality which has been described the crakes come early, they enter the +mowing grass and remain there till after it is cut; immediately +afterwards they are heard in the corn. Presently they are silent and +supposed to be gone; but I have heard of their being shot in the opening +of the shooting season on the uplands. The cry of the crake in that +locality is so common and so continuous as to form one of the most +striking features of the spring: the farmers listen for them, and note +their first arrival just as for the cuckoo--which it may be observed, in +passing, even in England keeps time with the young figs. + +But when I had occasion to pass a spring in Surrey the first thing I +noticed was the rarity of the crakes; I heard one or two at most, and +that only for a short time. Long before the grass was mown they were +gone--doubtless northwards, having only called in passing. I am told +they call again in coming back, and are occasionally shot in September. +But the next spring, chancing again to be in Surrey at that season, +though constantly about out of doors, I never heard a crake but once-- +one single call--and even then was not quite sure of it. I am told, +again, that there are parts of the county where they are more numerous: +they were certainly scarce those two seasons in that locality. Now here +we have an instance in direct contradiction to the suggestion that the +early state of vegetation is attractive to our spring visitors. The +crakes appeared to come earlier, in larger numbers, and to be more +contented and make a longer stay in the colder county than in the warm +one. + +The packing of birds is very interesting, and no thoroughly satisfactory +explanation of it, that I am aware of, has ever been discovered. It is +one of the most prominent facts in their history. It is not for warmth, +because they pack long before it is cold. This summer I saw large +flocks of starlings flying to their favourite firs to roost on the +evening of the 19th of June. The cuckoo was singing on the 17th, two +days before. + +It would be interesting to know, too, whether birds are really as free +in the choice of their mates in spring as at first sight appears. They +return to the same places, the same favourite hedge, and even the same +tree. Now, when the flocks split up into sections as the spring draws +near, each section or party seems to revisit the hedge from which they +departed last autumn. Do they, then, intermarry year after year? and is +that the reason why they return to the same locality? The fact of a +pair building by chance in a certain hedge is hardly enough to account +for the yearly return of birds to the spot. It seems more like the +return of a tribe or _gens_ to its own special locality. The members of +such a _gens_ must in that case be closely related. As it is not +possible to identify individual birds, the difficulty of arriving at a +clear understanding is great. + +Why, again, do not robins pack? Why do not blackbirds, and thrushes, go +in flocks? They never merge their individuality all the year round. +Even herons, though they fish separately, are gregarious in building, +and also often in a sense pack during the day, standing together on a +spit or sandbank. Rooks, starlings, wood-pigeons, fieldfares, and +redwings, may be seen in winter all feeding in the same field, and all +in large flocks. + +Some evidence of a supposed tendency to intermarry among birds may +perhaps be deduced from the practice of the long-tailed titmouse. This +species builds a nest exactly like a hut, roof included, and in it +several birds lay their eggs: as many as twenty eggs are sometimes +found; fourteen is a common number. Here there is not only the closest +relationship, but a system of community. This tit has a way sometimes +of puffing up its feathers--they are fluffy, and in that state look like +fur--and uttering a curious sound much resembling the squeak of a mouse; +hence, perhaps, the affix `mouse' to its name. + +The tomtit also packs, and flies in small parties almost all the year +round. They remain in such parties until the very time of nesting. On +March 24th last, while watching the approach of a snowstorm, I noticed +that a tall birch tree--whose long, slender, weeping branches showed +distinctly against the dark cloud--seemed to have fruit hanging at the +end of several of the boughs. On going near I counted six tomtits, as +busy as they could be, pendent from as many tiny drooping boughs, as if +at the end of a string, and swinging to and fro as the rude blast struck +the tree. The six in a few minutes increased to eight, then to nine, +then to twelve, and at last there were fourteen together, all dependent +from the very tiniest drooping boughs, all swinging to and fro as the +snow-flakes came silently floating by, and all chuckling and calling to +each other. The ruder the blast and the more they swung--heads +downwards--the merrier they seemed, busily picking away at the young +buds. Some of them remained in the tree more than an hour. + +Peewits or lapwings not only pack in the winter, but may almost be said +to pass the nesting time together. There are two favourite localities +in the district, which has been more particularly described, +much-frequented by these birds. One is among some water-meadows, where +the grass is long earlier in the spring than elsewhere: there the first +bennet pushes up its green staff--country people always note the +appearance of the first bennet--and the first cuckoo-flower opens. +Several nests are made here on the ground, in comparatively close +contiguity. + +Upon approaching, the old bird flies up, circles round, and comes so +near as almost to be within reach, whistling `pee-wit, pee-wit,' over +your head. He seems to tumble in the air as if wounded and scarcely +able to fly; and those who are not aware of his intention may be tempted +to pursue, thinking to catch him. But so soon as you are leaving the +nest behind he mounts higher, and wheels off to a distant corner of the +field, uttering an ironical `pee-wit' as he goes. If you neglect his +invitation to catch him if you can, and search for the nest or stand +still, he gets greatly excited and comes much closer, and in a few +minutes is joined by his mate, who also circles round; while several of +their friends fly at a safer distance, whistling in sympathy. + +Then you have a good opportunity of observing the peculiar motion of +their wings, which seem to strike simply downwards and not also +backwards, as with other birds; it is a quick jerking movement, the wing +giving the impression of pausing the tenth of a second at the finish of +the stroke before it is lifted again. If you pass on a short distance +and make no effort to find the nest, they recover confidence and +descend. When the peewit alights he runs along a few yards rapidly, as +if carried by the impetus. He is a handsome bird, with a well-marked +crest. + +The other locality to which I have referred was a wide open field full +of ant-hills. There must have been eight or ten acres of these hills. +They rose about eighteen inches or two feet, of a conical shape, and +overgrown by turf, like thousands of miniature extinct volcanoes. They +were so near together that it was easy to pass twenty or thirty yards +without once touching the proper surface of the ground, by springing +from one ant-hill to the other. Thick bunches of rushes grew between, +and innumerable thistles flourished, and here and there scattered +hawthorn bushes stood. It was a favourite place with the finches; the +hawthorn bushes always had nests in them. Thyme grew luxuriantly on the +ground between the nests and on the ant-hills. Wild thyme and ants are +often found together, as on the Downs. How many millions of ants must +have been needed to raise these hillocks! and what still more +incalculable numbers must have lived in them! A wilder spot could +scarcely have been imagined, though situate between rich meadow and +ploughed lands. + +There was always a covey of partridges about the field, but they could +not have had such a feast of eggs as would naturally be supposed, +because in the course of time a crust of turf had grown over the +ant-hills. The temporary hills of loose earth thrown up every summer by +the sides of the fields, where they can lay bare a whole nest with two +or three scratches, must afford much more food. Had it been otherwise +all the partridges in the neighbourhood would have gathered together +here; but there never seemed more than one or two coveys about. + +The peewits had nests year after year in this place, and even when the +nesting time was over a few might often be seen. The land for +agricultural purposes was almost valueless, there being so little +herbage upon which cattle could graze, and no possibility of mowing any; +so in the end gangs of labourers were set to work and the ant-hills +levelled, and, indeed, bodily-removed. Thus this last piece of waste +land was brought into use. + +Upon the Downs there is a place haunted by some few peewits. In the +colder months they assemble in flocks, and visit the arable land where +it is of a poor character, or where there are signs of peat in the soil. +By the shores of the lake they may, too, be often seen. I have counted +sixty in one flock, and have seen flocks so numerous as to be unable to +count them accurately; that of course was exceptional, but they are by +no means uncommon birds in this district. In others it seems quite a +rare thing to see a lapwing. + +They often appear to fly for a length of time together for the mere +pleasure of flying. They rise without the slightest cause of alarm, and +sail about to and fro over the same field for half an hour, then settle +and feed again, and presently take wing and repeat the whirling about +overhead. Solitary peewits will do the same thing; you would imagine +they were going off at a great pace, instead of which back they come in +a minute or two. Other birds fly for a purpose: the peewit seems to +find enjoyment beating to and fro in the air. + +Crows frequently build in oaks, and unless they are driven away by shot +will return to the same neighbourhood the following year. They appear +to prefer places near water, and long after the nesting time is past +will visit the spot. Small birds will sometimes angrily pursue them +through the air as they will hawks. As autumn approaches the swallows +congregate on warm afternoons on church steeples; they may be seen +whirling round and round in large flocks, and presently settling. I saw +a crow go past a steeple a short time since where there was a crowd of +swallows, when immediately the whole flock took wing, and circled about +the crow, following him for some distance. He made an awkward attempt +once to get at some of them, but their swiftness of wing took them far +out of his reach. Crows make no friends; rooks, on the contrary, make +many, and are often accompanied by several other species of birds. A +certain friendliness, too, seems to exist between sparrows, chaffinches, +and greenfinches, which are often found together. + +Some fields are divided into two by a long line of posts and rails, +which in time become grey from the lichen growing on the wood. The +cuckoos in spring seem to like resting on such rails better than the +hedges; and when they are courting, two, or even three, may be sometimes +seen on them together. Presently they fly, and are lost sight of behind +the trees: but one or other is nearly sure to come back to the rails +again after awhile. Cuckoos perch frequently, too, on those solitary +upright stones which here and there stand in the midst of the fields. +This habit of theirs is quoted by some of the old folks as an additional +proof that the cuckoo is only a hawk changed for the time, and unable to +forget his old habits, hawks (and owls) perching often on poles or +anything upright and detached. + +The cuckoo flies so much like the hawk, and so resembles it, as at the +first glance to be barely distinguishable; but on watching more closely +it will be seen that the cuckoo flies straight and level, with a gentle +fluttering of the wings, which never seem to come forward, so that in +outline he resembles a crescent, the convex side in front. His tail +appears longer in proportion, and more pointed; his flight is like that +of a very large swallow flying straight. The cuckoo's cry can perhaps +be heard farther than the call of any other bird. The heron's power of +voice comes nearest: he sails at a great height, and his `quaaack,' +drawn out into a harsh screech, may be heard at a long distance. But +then he has the advantage of elevation; the cuckoo never rises above the +tops of the elms. + +Yellowhammers have a habit of sitting on a rail or bough with their +shoulders humped, so that they seem to have no neck. In that attitude +they will remain a long time, uttering their monotonous chant; most +other birds stretch themselves and stand upright to sing. The great +docks that grow beside the ditches are visited by the tomtits, who perch +on them,--the stalk of the dock is strong and supports so light a weight +easily. Sparrows may sometimes be seen in July hawking in the air just +above the sward by the roadside--hovering like the kestrel, a foot or so +high, and then suddenly dropping like stones: they are then so absorbed +that they will scarcely fly away on your approach. At the same time a +rather long red fly is abundant in the grass, and may be the attraction. +The swift's long narrow wings shut behind him as if with a sharp snip, +cutting the air like shears; and then, holding them extended, he glides +like a quoit. + +In old days men used to be on the watch about the time of the great +race-meetings, in order to shoot at every pigeon that went past, in hope +of finding a message attached to the bird, and so getting the advantage +of early intelligence. In one such case I heard of, the pigeon had the +name of the winner, and was shot on a tree where it had alighted, weary +from want of food or uncertain as to its course. + +The golden-crested wren--smallest of the birds--scarcely ever leaves the +shelter of the hedges and trees. The crest or top-knot is not exactly +golden, but rather orange; and as the body of the tiny creature is dusky +in hue, the bright colour on its head shines like flame in contrast. By +this ruddy lamp upon its head the wren may be discovered hidden deep in +the intricate mazes of the thorn bushes, where otherwise it would be +difficult to find it. These wrens are usually in pairs; I have seldom +seen one by itself. They are not rare, and yet are comparatively little +seen, and must I think travel a good deal. All the same, they have +their favourite places; there was one hedge where, if the bird was +anywhere in the neighbourhood, I could feel sure of finding him. It was +very thick and entirely of hawthorn and blackthorn, and divided two +water-meadows. + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +NOTES ON THE YEAR--THE TWO NATURAL ERAS--SPIDERS--THE SEASONS +REPRESENTED TOGETHER--A MURDEROUS WASP--FENG-SHUI--THE BIRDS' WHITE +ELEPHANT--HEDGE MEMORANDA. + +There are few hedges so thick but that in January it is possible to see +through them, frost and wind having brought down the leaves. The +nettles, however, and coarse grasses, dry brown stems of dead plants, +rushes, and moss still in some sense cover the earth of the mound, and +among them the rabbits sit out in their forms. Looking for these with +gun and spaniel, when the damp mist of the morning has desired, one +sign--one promise--of the warm days to come may chance to be found. +Though the sky be gloomy, the hedge bare, and the trees gaunt, yet among +the bushes a solitary green leaf has already put forth. It is on the +stalk of the woodbine which climbs up the hawthorn, and is the first in +the new year--in the very darkest and blackest days--to show that life +is stirring. As it is the first to show a leaf, so, too, it is one of +the latest to yield to the advancing cold, and even then its bright red +berries leave a speck of colour; and its bloom, in beauty of form, hue, +and fragrance, is not easily surpassed. + +While the hedges are so bare the rabbits are unmercifully ferreted, for +they will before long begin to breed. On the milder mornings the +thrushes are singing sweetly. Clouds of tiny gnats circle in the +sheltered places near houses or thatch. In February `fill-ditch', as +the old folk call it, on account of the rains, although nominally in the +midst of the winter quarter, there is a distinct step forward. If the +clouds break and the wind is still, the beams of the sun on the southern +side of the wall become pleasantly genial. In the third week they bring +forth the yellow butterfly, fluttering gaily over the furze; while the +larks on a sunny day, chasing each other over the ploughed fields, make +even the brown clods of earth seem instinct with awakening life. The +pairing off of the birds is now apparent in every hedge, and at the same +time on the mounds, and under sheltering bushes and trees a deeper green +begins to show as the plants push up. + +The blackthorn is perhaps the first conspicuous flower; but in date it +seems to vary much. On the 22nd of February, 1877, there were boughs of +blackthorn in full bloom in Surrey, and elder trees in leaf; nearly +three weeks before that, at the beginning of the month, there were +hawthorn branches in full leaf in a sheltered nook in Kent. A degree +further west, on the contrary, the hawthorn did not show a leaf for some +time after the blackthorn had bloomed in Surrey. The farmers say that +the grass which comes on rapidly in the latter days of February and +early days of March, `many weathers' (in their phrase), often `goes +back' later in the season, and loses its former progress. + +Lady-day (old style) forms with Michaelmas the two eras, as it were, of +the year. The first marks the departure of the winter birds and the +coming of the spring visitors; the second, in reverse order, marks the +departure of the summer birds and the appearance of the vanguard of the +winter ones. In the ten days or fortnight succeeding Lady-day (old +style)--say from the 6th of April to the 20th--great changes take place +in the fauna and flora; or, rather, those changes which have long been +slowly maturing become visible. The nightingales arrive and sing, and +with them the white butterfly appears. The swallow comes, and the +wind-anemone blooms in the copse. Finally the cuckoo cries, and at the +same time the pale lilac cuckoo-flower shows in the moist places of the +mead. + +The exact dates, of course, vary with the character of the season and +the locality; but, speaking generally, you should begin to keep a keen +lookout for these signs of spring about old Lady-day. In the spring of +last year, in a warm district, the nightingale sang on the 12th of +April, a swallow appeared on the 13th, and the note of the cuckoo was +heard on the 15th. No great reliance should be put upon precise dates, +because in the first place they vary annually, and in the next an +observer can, in astronomical language, only sweep a limited area, and +that but imperfectly; so that it is very likely some ploughboy who +thinks nothing of it--except to immediately imitate it--hears the cuckoo +forty-eight hours before those who have been listening most carefully. +So that these dates are not given because they are of any intrinsic +value, but simply for illustration. On the 14th of April (the same +spring) the fieldfares and redwings were passing over swiftly in small +parties--or, rather, in a long flock scattered by the march--towards the +North Sea and their summer home in Norway. The winter birds, and the +distinctly spring and summer birds, as it were, crossed each other and +were visible together, their times of arrival and departure overlapping. + +As the sap rises in plants and trees, so a new life seems to flow +through the veins of bird and animal. The flood-tide of life rises to +its height, and after remaining there some time, gradually ebbs. Early +in August the leaves of the limes begin to fade, and a few shortly +afterwards fall: the silver birch had spots of a pale lemon among its +foliage this year on August 13. The brake fern, soon after it has +attained its full growth, begins to turn yellow in places. There is a +silence in the hedges and copses, and an apparent absence of birds. But +about Michaelmas (between the new and old styles) there is a marked +change. It is not that anything particular happens upon any precise +day, but it is a date around which, just before and after, events seem +to group themselves. + +Towards the latter part of September the geometrical spiders become +conspicuous, spinning their webs on every bush. Some of these attain an +enormous size, and, being so large, it is easier to watch their mode of +procedure. When a fly becomes entangled, the spider seizes it by the +poll, at the back of the head, and holds it for a short time till it +dies. Then he rapidly puts a small quantity of web round it; and next +carries it to the centre of the web. There, taking the dead fly on his +feet--much as a juggler plays with a ball upon his toes--the spider +rolls it round and round, enveloping it in a cocoon of web, and finally +hangs up his game head uppermost, and resumes his own position head +downwards. Another spider wraps his prey in a cocoon by spinning +himself and the fly together round and round. At the end of September +or beginning of October acres of furze may be seen covered with web in +the morning, when the dew deposited upon it renders it visible. As the +sun dries up the dew the web is no longer seen. + +On September 21 of last year the rooks were soaring and diving; they +continued to do this several days in succession. I should like to say +again that I attach no importance to these dates, but give them for +illustration: these, too, were taken in a warm district. Rooks usually +soar a good deal about the time of the equinox. On September 29 the +heaths and furze were white with the spiders' webs alluded to above. +September 27, larks singing joyously. October 2, a few grasshoppers +still calling in the grass--heard one or two three or four days later. +October 4, the ivy in full flower. October 7, the thrushes singing +again in the morning. October 6 and 7, pheasants roaming in the hedges +for acorns. October 13, a dragon-fly--large and green--hawking to and +fro on the sunny side of hedge. October 15, the first redwing. During +latter part of September and beginning of October, frogs croaking in the +ivy. + +Now, these dates would vary greatly in different localities, but they +show, clearer than a mere assertion, that about that time there is a +movement in nature. The croaking of frogs, the singing of larks and +thrushes, are distinctly suggestive of spring (the weather, too, was +warm and showery, with intervals of bright sunshine); the grasshopper +and dragon-fly were characteristic of summer, and there were a few +swallows still flying about; the pheasants and the acorns, and the +puff-balls, full of minute powder rising in clouds if struck, spoke of +autumn; and, finally, the first redwing indicated winter: so that all +the seasons were represented together in about the space of a fortnight. +I do not know any other period of the year which exhibits so remarkable +an assemblage of the representative features of the four quarters: an +artist might design an emblematic study upon it, say for a tesselated +pavement. + +In the early summer the lime trees flower, and are then visited by busy +swarms of bees, causing a hum in the air overhead. So, in like manner, +on October 16, I passed under an old oak almost hidden by ivy, and +paused to listen to the loud hum made by the insects that came to the +ivy blossom. They were principally bees, wasps, large black flies, and +tiny gnats. Suddenly a wasp attacked one of the largest of the flies, +and the two fell down on a bush, where they brought up on a leaf. + +The fly was very large, of a square build, and wrestled with its +assailant vigorously. But in a few seconds, the wasp, getting the +mastery, brought his tail round, and stung the fly twice, thrice, in +rapid succession in the abdomen, and then held tight. Almost +immediately the fly grew feeble; then the wasp snipped off its +proboscis, and next the legs. Then he seized the fly just behind the +head, and bit off pieces of the wings; these, the proboscis, and the +legs dropped to the ground. The fell purpose of the wasp is not easily +described; he stung and snipped and bit and reduced his prey to utter +helplessness, without the pause of a second. + +So eager was he that while cutting the wings to pieces he fell off the +leaf, but clung tight to the fly, and, although it was nearly as big as +himself, carried it easily to another leaf. There he rolled the fly +round, snipped off the head, which dropped, and devoured the internal +part; but slipped again and recovered himself on a third leaf, and as it +were picked the remaining small portion. What had been a great insect +had almost disappeared in a few minutes. + +After the arrival of the fieldfares the days seem to rapidly shorten, +till towards the end of December the cocks, reversing their usual +practice, crow in the evening, hours before midnight. The cockcrow is +usually associated with the dawn, and the change of habit just when the +nights are longest is interesting. + +Birds have a Feng-shui of their own--an unwritten and occult science of +the healthy and unhealthy places of residence--and seem to select +localities in accordance with the laws of this magical interpretation of +nature. The sparrows, by preference, choose the southern side of a +house for their nests. This is very noticeable on old thatched houses, +where one slope of the roof happens to face the north and another the +south. On the north side the thatch has been known to last thirty years +without renewal--it decays so slowly. The moss, however, grows thickly +on that side, and if not removed would completely cover it. Moss +prefers the shade; and so in the woodlands the meadows on the north or +shady side of the copses are often quite overgrown with moss, which is +pleasant to walk on, but destroys the herbage. But on the south side of +the roof, the rain coming from that quarter, the wind and sun cause the +thatch to rapidly deteriorate, so that it requires to be constantly +repaired. + +Now, instead of working their holes into the northern slope, sheltered +from wind and rain, nine out of ten of the sparrows make their nests on +the south, and, of course, by pulling out the straw still further assist +the decay of the thatch there. The influence of light seems to be +traceable in this; and it does occur whether other birds that use trees +and bushes for their nests may not really be guided in their selection +by some similar rule. The trees and bushes they select to us look much +the same as others; but the birds may none the less have some reasons of +their own. And as certain localities, as previously observed, are great +favourites with them and others are deserted, possibly Feng-shui may +have something to do with that also. + +The nomadic tribes that live in tents, and wander over thousands of +miles in the East, at first sight seem to roam aimlessly, or to be +determined simply by considerations of water and pasture. But those who +have lived with and studied them say that, though they have no maps, +each tribe, and even each particular family, has its own special route +and special camping-ground. Could these routes be mapped out, they +would present an interlaced pattern of lines crossing and recrossing +without any appreciable order; yet one family never interferes with +another family. This statement seems to me to be most interesting if +compared with the habits of birds that roam hither and thither +apparently without order or method, that come back in the spring to +particular places, and depart again after their young are reared. +Though to us they wander aimlessly, it is possible that from their point +of view they may be following strictly prescribed routes sanctioned by +immemorial custom. + +And so itinerant labourers move about. In the particular district which +has been described their motions are roughly these:--In the early spring +they go up on the uplands, where there are many thousand acres of arable +land, for the hoeing. Then comes a short space of employment--haymaking +in the water-meadows that follow the course of the rivers there, and +which are cut very early. Next, they return down into the vale, where +the haymaking has then commenced. Just before it begins the Irish +arrive in small parties, coming all the way from their native land to +gather the high wages paid during the English harvest time. They show a +pleasing attachment to the employer who has once given them work and +treated them with a little kindness. To him they go first; and thus it +often happens that the same band of Irish return to the same farm year +after year as regularly as the cuckoo. They lodge in an open shed, +making a fire in the corner of the hedge where it is sheltered. They +are industrious, work well, drink little, and bear generally a good +character. + +After the haymaking in the vale is finished, the itinerant families turn +towards the lighter soils, where the corn crops are fast ripening, and +soon leave the scene of their former labours fifty miles behind them. A +few perhaps straggle back in time to assist in the latter part of the +corn harvest on the heavy lands, if it has been delayed by the weather. +The physicians say that change of air is essential to health: the +migration of birds may not be without its effect upon their lives, quite +apart from the search for food alone. + +The dry walls which sometimes enclose cornfields (built of flat stones) +are favourite places with many birds. The yellowhammers often alight on +them, so do the finches and larks; for the coarse mortar laid on the top +decays and is overgrown with mosses, so that it loses the hard +appearance of a wall. When the sparrow who has waited till you are +close to him suddenly starts, his wings, beating the air, make a sound +like the string of a bow pulled and released--to try it without an +arrow. + +The dexterous way in which a bird helps itself to thistledown is +interesting to watch. The thistle has no branch on which he can perch; +he must take it on the wing. He flies straight to the head of the +thistle, stoops as it were, seizes the down, and passes on with it in +the bill to the nearest bough--much in the same way as some tribes of +horsemen are related to pick up a lance from the ground whilst going at +full speed. + +Many birds twirl their `r's;' others lisp, as the nightingale, and +instead of `sweet' say `thweet, thweet' The finches call to each other, +`Kywee, kywee--tweo--thweet,' which, whatever may be its true +translation, has a peculiarly soothing effect on the ear. Swifts +usually fly at a great height, and, being scattered in the atmosphere, +do not appear numerous; but sometimes during a stiff gale they descend +and concentrate over an open field, there wheeling round and to and fro +only just above the grass. Then the ground looks quite black with them +as they dart over it: they exhibit no fear, but if you stand in the +midst come all round you so close that they might be knocked down with a +walking-stick if used quick enough. In the air they do not look large, +but when so near as this they are seen to be of considerable size. The +appearance of hundreds of these jet black, long-winged birds, flying +with marvellous rapidity and threading an inextricable maze almost, as +it were, under foot is very striking. + +The proverbial present of a white elephant is paralleled in bird life by +the gift of the cuckoo's egg. The bird whose nest is chosen never +deserts the strange changeling, but seems to feel feeding the young +cuckoo to be a sacred duty, and sees its own young ejected and perishing +without apparent concern. My attention was called one spring to a +robin's nest made in a stubble rick; there chanced to be a slight hollow +in the side of the tick, and this had been enlarged. A cuckoo laid her +egg in the nest, and as it happened to be near some cowsheds it was +found and watched. When the young bird began to get fledged some sticks +were inserted in the rick so as to form a cage, that it might not +escape, and there the cuckoo grew to maturity and to full feather. + +All the while the labour undergone by the robins in supplying the wide +throat of the cuckoo with food was something incredible. It was only +necessary to wait a very few minutes before one or other came, but the +voracious creature seemed never satisfied; he was bigger than both his +foster-parents put together, and they waited on him like slaves. It was +really distressing to see their unrewarded toil. Now, no argument will +ever convince me that the robin or the wagtail, or any other bird in +whose nest the cuckoo lays its egg, can ever confound the intruding +progeny with its own offspring. Irrespective of size, the plumage is so +different; and there is another reason why they must know the two apart: +the cuckoo as he grows larger begins to resemble the hawk, of which all +birds are well known to feel the greatest terror. They will pursue a +cuckoo exactly as they will a hawk. + +I will not say that that is because they mistake it for a hawk, for the +longer I observe the more I am convinced that birds and animals often +act from causes quite distinct from those which at first sight appear +sufficient to account for their motions. But about the fact of the +lesser birds chasing the cuckoo there is no doubt. Are they +endeavouring to drive her away that she may not lay her egg in either of +their nests? In any case it is clear that birds do recognise the cuckoo +as something distinct from themselves, and therefore I will never +believe that the foster-parent for a moment supposes the young cuckoo to +be its own offspring. + +To our eyes one young robin (meaning out of the nest--on the hedge) is +almost identical with another young robin; to our ears the querulous cry +of one for food is confusingly like that of another: yet the various +parent birds easily distinguish, recognise, and feed their own young. +Then to suppose that, with such powers of observation--with the keenness +of vision that can detect an insect or a worm moving in the grass from a +branch twenty feet or more above it, and detect it while to all +appearance engaged in watching your approach--to suppose that the robin +does not know that the cuckoo is not of its order is past credit. The +robin is much too intelligent. Why, then, does he feed the intruder? +There is something here approaching to the sentiment of humanity, as we +should call it, towards the fellow-creature. + +The cuckoo remained in the cage for some time after it had attained +sufficient size to shift for itself, but the robins did not desert it: +they clearly understood that while thus confined it had no power of +obtaining food and must starve. Unfortunately, a cat at last discovered +the cuckoo, which was found on the ground dead but not eaten. The +robins came to the spot afterwards--not with food, but as if they missed +their charge. + +The easy explanation of a blind instinct is not satisfactory to me. On +the other hand, the doctrine of heredity hardly explains the facts, +because how few birds' ancestors can have had experience in +cuckoo-rearing? There is no analogy with the cases of goats and other +animals suckling strange species; because in those instances there is +the motive--at all events in the beginning--of relief from the painful +pressure of the milk. But the robins had no such interested motive: all +their interests were to get rid of their visitor. May we not suppose, +then, that what was begun through the operation of hereditary instinct, +i.e., the feeding of the cuckoo, while still small and before the young +robins had been ejected, was continued from an affection that gradually +grew up for the helpless intruder? Higher sentiments than those usually +attributed to the birds and beasts of the field may, I think, be traced +in some of their actions. + +To the number of those birds whose call is more or less apparently +ventriloquial the partridge may be added; for when they are assembling +in the evening at the roosting-place their calls in the stubble often +sound some way to the right or left of the real position of the bird, +which presently appears emerging from the turnips ten or fifteen yards +farther up than was judged by the ear. It is not really ventriloquial, +but caused by the rapid movements and by the circumstance of the bird +being out of sight. + +We constantly hear that the area of pasture in England is extending, and +gradually overlapping arable lands; and the question suggests itself +whether this, if it continues, will not have some effect upon bird and +animal life by favouring those that like grass lands and diminishing +those that prefer the ploughed. On and near ploughed lands modern +agriculture endeavours to cut down trees and covers and grub up hedges, +not only on account of their shade and the injury done by their roots, +but because they are supposed to shelter sparrows and other birds. But +pasture and meadow are favourable to hedges, trees, and covers: wherever +there is much grass there is generally plenty of wood; and this again-- +if hedges and small covers extend in a corresponding degree with +pasture--may affect bird life. + +A young dog may be taught to hunt almost anything. Young pointers will +point birds' nests in hedges or trees, and discover them quicker than +any lad. If a dog is properly trained, of course this is not allowed; +but if not trained, after accompanying boys nesting once or twice they +will enter into the search with the greatest eagerness. Labourers +occasionally make caps of dog-skin, preserved with the hair on. Cats +not uncommonly put a paw into the gins set for rabbits or rats. The +sharp teeth break the bone of the leg, but if the cat is found and let +out she will often recover--running about on three legs till the injured +fore-foot drops off at the joint, when the stump heals up. Foxes are +sometimes seen running on three legs and a stump, having met with a +similar disaster. Cats contrive to climb some way up the perpendicular +sides of wheat ricks after the mice. + +The sparrows are the best of gleaners: they leave very little grain in +the stubble. The women who go gleaning now make up their bundles in a +clumsy way. Now, the old gleaners used to tie up their bundles in a +clever manner, doubling the straw in so that it bound itself and enabled +them to carry a larger quantity. Even in so trifling a matter there are +two ways of doing it, but the ancient traditionary workmanship is dying +out. The sheaves of corn, when set up in the field leaning against each +other, bear a certain likeness to hands folded in prayer. By the side +of cornfields the wild parsnip sometimes grows in great profusion. If +dug up for curiosity the root has a strong odour, like the cultivated +vegetable, but is small and woody. Everyone who has gathered the +beautiful scarlet poppies must have noticed the perfect Maltese cross +formed inside the broad petals by the black markings. + +Beetles fly in the evening with such carelessness as to strike against +people--they come against the face with quite a smart blow. Miserable +beetles may sometimes be seen eaten almost hollow within by in numerable +parasites. The labourers call those hairy caterpillars which curl in a +circle `Devil's rings'--a remnant of the old superstition that +attributed everything that looked strange to demoniacal agency. + +There is a tendency to variation even in the common buttercup. Not long +since I saw one with a double flower; the petals of each were complete +and distinct, the two flowers being set back to back on the top of the +stalk. The stem of one of the bryonies withers up so completely that +the shrinkage, aided by a little wind, snaps it. Then a bunch of red +berries may be seen hanging from the lower boughs of a tree--a part of +the stem, twined round, remaining there--the berries look as if +belonging to the tree itself, the other part of the stem having fallen +to the ground. + +In clay soils the ivy does not attain any large size; but where there is +some admixture of loam, or sand, it flourishes; I have seen ivy whose +main stem growing up the side of an oak was five inches in diameter, and +had some pretensions to be called timber. The bulrush, which is usually +associated with water, does not grow in a great many brooks and ponds; +in some districts it is even rare, and it requires a considerable search +to find a group of these handsome rushes. Water-lilies are equally +absent from certain districts. Elms do not seem to flourish near water; +they do not reach any size, and a white, unhealthy-looking sap exudes +from the trunk. Water seems, too, to check the growth of ash after it +has reached a moderate size. Does the May bloom, which is almost +proverbial for its sweetness, occasionally turn sour, as it were, before +a thunderstorm? Bushes covered with this flower certainly emit an +unpleasant smell sometimes quite distinct from the usual odour of the +May. + +The hedge is so intensely English and so mixed up in all popular ideas +that it is no wonder it forms the basis of many proverbs and sayings-- +such as, `The sun does not shine on both sides of the hedge at once,' +`rough as a hedge,' the verb `to hedge,' and so on. Has any attempt +ever been made to cultivate the earth-nut, pig-nut, or ground-nut, as it +is variously called, which the ploughboys search for and dig up with +their clasp-knives? It is found by the small slender stalk it sends up, +and insignificant white flower, and lies a few inches below the surface: +the ploughboys think much of it, and it seems just possible that +cultivation might improve it. + +Rare birds do not afford much information as a rule--seen for a short +time only, it is difficult to discover much about them. I followed one +of the rarer woodpeckers one morning for a long time, but +notwithstanding all my care and trouble could not learn much of its +ways. + +Even among cows there are some rudiments of government. Those who tend +them say that each cow in a herd has her master (or rather mistress), +whom she is obliged to yield precedence to, as in passing through a +gateway. If she shows any symptoms of rebellion the other attacks her +with her horns until she flies. A strange cow turned in among a herd is +at once attacked and beaten till she gets her proper place--finds her +level--when she is left in peace. The two cows, however, when they have +ascertained which is strongest, become good friends, and frequently lick +each other with their rough tongues, which seems to give them much +satisfaction. + +Dogs running carelessly along beside the road frequently go sideways: +one shoulder somewhat in front of the other, which gives the animal the +appearance of being ever on the point of altering his course. The +longer axis of the body is not parallel to the course he is following. +Is this adopted for ease? Because, the moment the dog hears his master +whistle, and rushes forward hastily, the sidelong attitude disappears. + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +SNAKE-LORE--SNAKES SWALLOWING FROGS--SWIMMING--FOND OF MILK--TRAPPING +SNAKES--FROGS CLIMBING--TOADS IN TREES--THE BROOK--THE HATCH-- +KINGFISHERS' HAUNTS. + +There are three kinds of snakes, according to the cottage people-- +namely, water snakes, grass snakes, and black snakes. The first +frequent the brooks, ponds, and withy-beds; the second live in the +mounds and hedges, and go out into the grass to find their prey; the +third are so distinguished because of a darker colour. The cottage +people should know, as they see so many during the summer; but they have +simply given the same snake a different name because they notice it in +different places. The common snake is, in fact, partial to the water, +and takes to it readily. It does, however, seem to be correct that some +individuals are of a blacker hue than the rest, and so have been +supposed to constitute a distinct kind. + +These creatures, like every other, have their favourite localities; and, +while you may search whole fields in vain, along one single dry sandy +bank you may sometimes find half a dozen, and they haunt the same spot +year after year. So soon as the violets push up and open their +sweet-scented flowers under the first warm gleams of the spring +sunshine, the snake ventures forth from his hole to bask on the south +side of the bank. In looking for violets it is not unusual to hear a +rustling of the dead leaves that still strew the ground, and to see the +pointed tail of a snake being dragged after him under cover. + +In February there are sometimes a few days of warm weather (about the +last week), and a solitary snake may perhaps chance to crawl forth; but +they are not generally visible till later, and, if it be a cold spring, +remain torpid till the wind changes. When the hedges have grown green, +and the sun, rising higher in the sky, raises the temperature, even +though clouds be passing over, the snakes appear regularly, but even +then not till the sun has been up some hours. Later on they may +occasionally be found coiled up in a circle two together on the bank. + +In the summer some of them appear of great thickness--almost as big +round as the wrist. These are the females, and are about to deposit +their eggs. They may usually be noticed close to cow-yards. The cattle +in summer graze in the fields and the sheds are empty; but there are +large manure-heaps overgrown with weeds, and in these the snakes' eggs +are left. Rabbits are fond of visiting these cow-yards--many of which +are at a distance from the farmstead--and sometimes bring forth a litter +there. + +When the mowers have laid the tall grass in swathes snakes are often +found on them or under them by the haymakers, whose prongs or forks +throw the grass about to expose a large surface to the sun. The +haymakers kill them without mercy, and numbers thus meet with their +fate. They vary very much in size--from eighteen inches to three feet +in length. I have seen specimens which could not have been less than +four feet long, and as thick as a rake-handle. That would be an +exceptional case, but not; altogether rare. The labourers will tell you +of much larger snakes, but I never saw one. + +There is no subject, indeed, upon which they make such extraordinary +statements, evidently believing what they say, as about snakes. A man +told me once that he had been pursued by a snake, which rushed after him +at such a speed that he could barely escape; the snake not only glided +but actually leaped over the ground. Now this must have been pure +imagination: he fancied he saw an adder, and fled, and in his terror +thought himself pursued. They constantly state that they have seen +adders; but I am confident that no viper exists in this district, nor +for some miles round. That they do elsewhere of course is well known, +but not here; neither is the slow-worm ever seen. + +The belief that snakes can jump--or coil themselves up and spring--is, +however, very prevalent. They all tell you that a snake can leap across +a ditch. This is not true. A snake, if alarmed, will make for the +hedge; and he glides much faster than would be supposed. On reaching +the `shore' or edge of the ditch he projects his head over it, and some +six or eight inches of the neck, while the rest of the body slides down +the slope. If it happens to be a steep-sided ditch he often loses his +balance and rolls to the bottom; and that is what has been mistaken for +leaping. As he rises up the mound he follows a zigzag course, and +presently enters some small hole or a cavity in a decaying stole. After +creeping in some distance he often meets with an obstruction, and has to +remain half in and half out till he can force his way. He usually takes +possession of a mouse-hole, and does not seem to be able to enlarge it +for additional convenience. If you put your stick on his head as he +slips through the grass his body rolls and twists, and almost ties +itself in a knot. + +I have never been able to find a snake in the actual process of +divesting his body of the old skin, but have several times disturbed +them from a bunch of grass and found the slough in it. There was an old +wall, very low and somewhat ruinous, much overgrown with barley-like +grasses, where I found a slough several times in succession, as if it +had been a favourite resort for the purpose. The slough is a pale +colour--there is no trace on it of the snake's natural hue, and it has +when fresh an appearance as if varnished--meaning not the brown colour +of varnish, but the smoothness. A thin transparent film represents the +eyes, so that the country folk say the snake skins his own eyes. + +A forked stick is the best thing to catch a snake with: the fork pins +the head to the ground without doing any injury. If held up by the +tail--that is the way the country lads carry them--the snake will not +let its head hang down, but holds it up as far as possible: he does not, +however, seem able to crawl up himself, so to say; he is helpless in +that position. If he is allowed to touch the arm he immediately coils +round it. A snake is sometimes found on the roofs of cottages. The +roof in such cases is low, and connected by a mass of ivy with the +ground, overgrown too with moss and weeds. + +The mowers, who sleep a good deal under the hedges, have a tradition +that a snake will sometimes crawl down a man's throat if he sleeps on +the ground with his mouth open. There is also a superstition among the +haymakers of snakes having been bred in the stomachs of human beings, +from drinking out of ponds or streams frequented by water snakes. Such +snakes--green, and in every respect like the field snake--have, +according to them, been vomited by the unfortunate persons afflicted +with this strange calamity. It is curious to note in connection with +this superstition the ignorance of the real habits of these creatures +exhibited by people whose whole lives are spent in the fields and by the +hedges. + +Now and then a peculiar squealing sound may be heard proceeding from the +grass; on looking about it is found to be made by a frog in the +extremity of mortal terror. A snake has seized one of his hind legs and +has already swallowed a large part of it. The frog struggles and +squeals, but it is in vain; the snake, if once he takes hold, will +gradually get him down. I have several times released frogs from this +horrible position; they hop off apparently unhurt if only the leg has +been swallowed. But on one occasion I found a frog quite half gone down +the throat of its dread persecutor: I compelled the snake to disgorge +it, but the frog died soon afterwards. The frog being a broad creature, +wide across the back--at least twice the width of the snake--it appears +surprising how the snake can absorb so large a thing. + +In the nesting season snakes are the terror of those birds that build in +low bushes. I have never seen a snake in a tree (though I have heard of +their getting up trees), but I have seen them in hawthorn bushes several +feet from the ground, and apparently proceeding along the boughs with +ease. I once found one in a bird's nest: the nest was empty--the snake +had doubtless had a feast, and was enjoying deglutition. In some places +where snakes are numerous, boys when bird's-nesting always give the nest +a gentle thrust with a stick first before putting the hand in, lest they +should grasp a snake instead of eggs. The snake is also accused of +breaking and sucking eggs--some say it is the hard-set eggs he prefers; +whether that be so or no, eggs are certainly often found broken and the +yolk gone. When the young fledglings fall out of the nest on to the +ground they run great risk from snakes. + +When sitting in a punt in summer, moored a hundred yards or more from +shore, I have often watched a snake swim across the lake, in that place +about 300 yards wide. In the distance all that is visible is a small +black spot moving steadily over the water. This is the snake's head, +which he holds above the surface, and which vibrates a little from side +to side with the exertions of the muscular body. As he comes nearer a +slight swell undulates on each side, marking his progress. Snakes never +seem to venture so far from shore except when it is perfectly calm. The +movement of the body is exactly the same as on land--the snake glides +over the surface, the bends of its body seeming to act like a screw. +They go at a good pace, and with the greatest apparent ease. In walking +beside the meadow brooks, not everywhere, but in localities where these +reptiles are common, every now and then you may see a snake strike off +from the shore and swim across, twining in and out the stems of the +green flags till he reaches the aquatic grass on the mud and disappears +among it. + +One warm summer's day I sat down on the sward under an oak, and leaned +my gun against it, intending to watch the movements of a pair of +woodpeckers who had young close by. But the drowsy warmth induced +slumber, and on waking--probably after the lapse of some time--I found a +snake coiled on the grass under one of my legs. I kept perfectly still, +being curious to see what the snake would do. He watched me with his +keen eyes as closely as I watched him. So long as there was absolute +stillness, he remained; the moment I moved, out shot his forked black +tongue, and away he went into the ditch as rapidly as possible. + +Some country people say they can ascertain if a hedge is frequented by +snakes, by a peculiar smell: it is certain that if one is killed, +especially if worried by a dog, there is an unpleasant odour. That they +lie torpid during the winter is generally understood; but though I have +kept an eye on the grubbing of many hedges for the purpose of observing +what was found, I never saw a snake disturbed from his winter sleep. +But that may be accounted for by their taking alarm at the jar and +vibration of the earth under the strokes of the axe at the tough roots +of thorn stoles and ash, and so getting away. Besides which it is +likely enough that these particular hedges may not have been favourite +localities with them. They are said to eat mice, and to enter dairies +sometimes for the milk spilt on the flagstones of the floor. [Note 1.] +They may often be found in the furrows in the meadows, which act as +surface drains and are damp. + +Frogs have some power of climbing. I have found them on the roofs of +outhouses which were covered with ivy; they must have got up the ivy. +Their toes are, indeed, to a certain degree prehensile, and they can +cling with them. They sometimes make a low sound while in the ivy on +such roofs; to my ear it sounds like a hoarse `coo.' Cats occasionally +catch frogs by the leg, and torment them, letting the creature go only +to seize it again, and finally devouring it. The wretched creature +squeals with pain and terror exactly as when caught by a snake. + +No surer sign of coming rain than the appearance of the toad on the +garden paths is known. Many cottage folk will still tell you that the +hundreds and hundreds of tiny frogs which may sometimes be seen quite +covering the ground fall from the sky, notwithstanding the fact that +they do not appear during the rain, but a short time afterwards. And +there are certain places where such crowds of these creatures may be +oftener found than elsewhere. I knew one such place; it was a gateway +where the clayey soil for some way round the approach had been trampled +firm by the horses and cattle. This gateway was close to a slowly +running brook, so slow as to be all but stagnant. Here I have seen +legions of them on several occasions, all crowding on the ground worn +bare of grass, as if they preferred that to the herbage. + +Newts seem to prefer stagnant or nearly stagnant ponds, and are rarely +seen in running water. Claypits from whence clay has been dug for +brickmaking, and which are now full of water, are often frequented by +them, as also by frogs in almost innumerable numbers in spring, when +their croaking can be heard fifty yards away when it is still. + +Labourers say that sometimes in grubbing out the butt of an old tree-- +previously sawn down--they have found a toad in a cavity of the solid +wood, and look upon it as a great wonder. But such old trees are often +hollow at the bottom, and the hollows communicate with the ditch, so +that the toad probably had no difficulty of access. The belief in the +venom of the toad is still current, and some will tell you that they +have had sore places on their hands from having accidentally touched +one. + +They say, too, that an irritated snake, if it cannot escape, will strike +at the hand and bite, though harmless. Snakes will, indeed, twist round +a threatening stick; and, as it is evidently a motion induced by anger, +the question arises whether they have some power of constriction. If +so, it is slight. In summer a few snakes may always be found by the +stream that runs through the fields near Wick Farm. + +This brook, like many others, in its downward course is checked at +irregular intervals by hatches, built for the purpose of forcing water +out into the meadows, or up to ponds at some distance from the stream at +which the cattle in the sheds drink. Sometimes the water is thus led up +to a farmstead; sometimes the farmstead is situate on the very banks of +the brook, and the hatch is within a few yards. Besides the moveable +hatches, the stream in many places is crossed by bays (formed of piles +and clay), which either irrigate adjacent meads or keep the water in +ponds at a convenient level. + +A lonely moss-grown hatch, which stands in a quiet shady corner not far +from the lake, is a favourite resort of the kingfishers. Though these +brilliantly coloured birds may often be seen skimming across the surface +of the mere, they seem to obtain more food from the brooks and ponds +than from the broader expanse of water above. In the brooks they find +overhanging branches upon which to perch and watch for their prey, and +without which they can do nothing. In the lake the only places where +such boughs can be found are the shallow stretches where the bottom is +entirely mud, and where the water is almost hidden by weeds. Willows +grow there in great quantities, and some of their branches may be +available; but then the water is hidden by weeds; and, being muddy at +bottom, is not frequented by those shoals of roach the kingfisher +delights to watch. So that the best places to look for this bird are on +the streams which feed the mere (especially just where they enter it, +for there the fish often assemble) and the streams that issue forth, not +far from the main water. + +This old hatch--it is so old and rotten that it is a little dangerous to +cross it--is situate in the latter position, on the effluent, and is +almost hidden among trees and bushes. Several hedges there meet, and +form a small cover, in the midst of which flows the dark brook; but do +not go near carelessly, for the bank is undermined by the water itself +and by the water-rats, while the real edge is concealed by long coarse +grasses. These water-rats are for ever endangering the bay: they bore +their holes at the side through the bank from above and emerge below the +hatch. Out of one such hole the water is now rushing, and if it is not +soon stopped will wear away the soil and escape in such quantities as to +lower the level behind the hatch. These little beaver-like creatures +are not, therefore, welcome near hatches and dams. + +If you approach the cover quietly and step over the decayed pole that +has been placed to close a gap, by carefully parting the bushes the +kingfisher may be seen in his favourite position. The old pole must not +be pressed in getting over it, or the willow `bonds' or withes with +which it is fastened to a tree each side of the gap will creak, and the +pole itself may crack, and so alarm the bird. The kingfisher perches on +the narrow rail that crosses the hatch about two feet above the water. + +Another perch to which he removes now and then is formed by a branch, +dead and leafless, which projects across a corner of the bubbling pool +below. He prefers a rail or a dead branch, because it gives him a +clearer view and better facilities for diving and snatching up his prey +as it swims underneath him. His azure back and wings and ruddy breast +are not equalled in beauty of colour by any bird native to this country. +The long pointed beak looks half as long as the whole bird: his shape +is somewhat wedge-like, enlarging gradually from the point of the beak +backwards. The cock bird has the brightest tints. + +In this pool scooped out by the falling water swim roach, perch, and +sticklebacks, and sometimes a jack; but the jack usually abides near the +edge out of the swirl. Roach are here the kingfisher's most common +prey. He chooses those about four inches long by preference, and `daps' +on them the moment they come near enough to the surface. But he will +occasionally land a much larger fish, perhaps almost twice the size, and +will carry it to some distance, being remarkably powerful on the wing +for so small a bird. The fish is held across the beak, but in flying it +sometimes seems to be held almost vertically; and if that is really the +case, and not an illusion caused by the swiftness of the flight, the +bird must carry its head then a little on one side. If he is only +fishing for his own eating, he does not carry his prey farther than a +clear place on the bank. A terrace made by the runs of the water-rat is +a common table for him, or the path leading to the hatch where it is +worn smooth and bare by footsteps. But he prefers to devour his fish +either close to the water or in a somewhat open place, and not too near +bushes; because while thus on the ground he is not safe. When feeding +his young he will carry a fish apparently as long as himself a +considerable distance. + +One summer I went several days in succession to a hedge two fields +distant from the nearest brook, and hid on the mound with a gun. I had +not been there long before a kingfisher flew past, keeping just dear of +the hedge, but low down and close under the boughs of the trees, and +going in a direction which would not lead to a brook or pond. This +seemed curious; but presently he came back again, uttering the long +whistle which is his peculiar note. About an hour, perhaps less, +elapsed when he returned again, this time carrying something in his beak +that gleamed white and silvery in the sun--a fish. The next day it was +the same, and the next. The kingfisher, or rather two of them, went +continually to and fro, and it was astonishing what a number of fish +they took. Never more than an hour, often less, elapsed without one or +other going by. The fish varied much in size, sometimes being very +small. + +They had a nest, of course, somewhere; but being under the idea that +they always built near brooks or in the high banks often seen at the +back of ponds, it was difficult for me to imagine where the nest could +be. To all appearance they flew straight through a small opening in +another hedge, at the corner of the two in fact, about two hundred yards +distant. Presently it occurred to me that this might be an illusion, +that the birds did not really pass through the hedge, but had a nest +somewhere in that corner. + +Just in the very angle was an old disused sawpit, formed by enlarging +the ditch, and made some years before for the temporary convenience of +sawing up a few heavy `sticks' of timber that were thrown thereabouts. +The sawpit, to prevent accidents to cattle, was roughly covered over +with slabs of wood, which practically roofed it in, and of course +darkened the interior. It was in this sawpit that the kingfishers had +their nest in what appeared to be a hole partly excavated by a rabbit. +The distance from the hatch and brook was about 400 yards, so that the +parent birds had to carry the fish they captured nearly a quarter of a +mile. The sawpit, too, was close to a lane used a good deal, though +sheltered by a thick hedge from the observation of those who passed. + +In another case I knew of, the kingfishers built in a mound overhanging +a small stagnant and muddy pond, in which there were no fish, and which +was within twenty paces of a farmhouse. The house was situate on a hill +about three hundred yards from the nearest running stream. This little +pond was full in wet weather only, and was constantly used by the +horses, the cattle in the field that came almost up to the door, and by +the tame ducks. Beside the pond was a wood-pile, and persons were +constantly passing it to and fro. Yet the kingfishers built there and +reared their young; and this not only for one season, but for several +years in succession. They had to bring all the fish they captured up +from the brook, over the garden, and to pass close to the house. Why +they should choose such a place is not easily explained, seeing that so +many apparently more suitable localities were open to them along the +course of the stream. + +One summer I found a family of four young kingfishers perched in a row +on a dead branch crossing a brook which ran for some distance beside a +double-mound hedge. There was a hatch just there too, forcing the water +into two ponds, one each side of the mound. The brook had worn itself a +deep channel, and so required a hatch to bring it up to a level +convenient for cattle. I had known for some time that there was a nest +in that mound from the continued presence of the two old birds; but +could not find it. But when the young could fly a little they appeared +on this branch projecting almost over the falling water, and there they +took up their station day after day. Every now and then the parents +came with small fish, which they caught farther down the brook, for just +in that place there were only a few perch and perhaps a tench or two. +The colours are much less brilliant on the young birds, and they do not +obtain the deep rich hues of their parents until the following spring. +I have shot many young birds in the winter; they are by that time much +improved in colour, but may be distinguished without difficulty from the +full-grown bird. + +Though so swift, the kingfisher is comparatively easy to shoot, because +he flies as straight as an arrow; and if you can get clear of bushes or +willow pollards he may be dropped without trouble. When disturbed the +kingfisher almost invariably flies off in one favourite direction; and +this habit has often proved fatal to him, because the sportsman knows +exactly which way to look, and carries his gun prepared. Wherever the +kingfisher's haunt may be, he will be found upon observation to leave it +nearly always in the same direction day after day. He is, indeed, a +bird with fixed habits, though apparently wandering aimlessly along the +streams. I soon found it possible to predict beforehand in which haunt +a kingfisher would be discovered at any time. + +By noting the places frequented by these birds you know where the shoals +of small fish lie, and may supply yourself with bait for larger fish. +Often one of those great hawthorn bushes that hang over a brook is a +favourite spot. The roots of trees and bushes loosen the soil, and +deeper holes are often found under them than elsewhere, to which the +fish resort. These hawthorn bushes, though thick and impenetrable +above, are more open below just over the water; and there the kingfisher +perches, and has also the advantage of being completely hidden from +observation: if he only remained still in such places he would escape +notice altogether. When passing such a bush on the _qui vive_ for +snipe, how many times have I seen a brilliant streak of azure shoot out +from the lower branches and watched a kingfisher skim across the meadow, +rising with a piping whistle over the distant hedge! Near millponds is +a favourite place with these birds. + +To that hatch which stands on the effluent brook not far from the mere a +coot or two comes now and then at night or in the early morning. These +birds, being accused of devouring the young fry, are killed whenever +they are met, and their eggs taken in order to prevent their increase; +that is, of course, where the water is carefully preserved. Here they +are not so persistently hunted. I have seen coots, and moorhens too, +venture some distance up the dark arch of a culvert. Moorhens are fond +of bridges and frequently feed under them. When alarmed, after diving, +the moorhen does not always come right up to the surface, but merely +protrudes its head to breathe. + +One day I startled a moorhen in a shallow pond; instantly the bird +dived, and I watched to see where it would come up, knowing that the +moorhen cannot stay long under water, while there chanced to be scarcely +any bushes or cover round the edge. After waiting some time, and +wondering what had become of the bird, I fancied I saw some duckweed +slightly agitated. Looking more carefully, it seemed as if there was +something very small moving now and then just there--the spot was not +more than fifteen yards distant. It was as if the beak of a bird, the +body and most of the head quite hidden and under water, were picking or +feeding among the duckweed. This continued for some few minutes, when I +shot at the spot, and immediately a moorhen rose to the surface. As the +pond was very shallow the bird must have stood on the bottom, and so +resumed its feeding with the beak just above the surface. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. An extraordinary instance of this has been very kindly +communicated to me by the writer of the following letter:-- + +"Kingston Vicarage, Wareham, Dorset, October 27, 1878. + +"Dear Sir--_Apropos_ of your reference to the notion that snakes drink +milk, I think it may interest you to hear of a curious instance of this +which occurred near here about three months ago. At Kingswood, the home +farm of Kempstone (Mr J.H. Calcraft's place, near Corfe Castle), the +dairyman noticed that something seemed to enter the dairy through a hole +in the wall and take the milk. Thinking it was a mouse or rat, he set a +common gin at the hole, and caught a snake every day until he had caught +seventeen! Mr Calcraft would corroborate this. My informant is Mr +Bankes, rector of Corfe Castle, who heard it from the dairyman himself. + +"Faithfully yours, + +"S.C. Spencer Smith." + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +COURSE OF THE BROOK--THE BIRDS' BATHING-PLACE--ROACH--JACK ON THEIR +JOURNEYS--THE STICKLEBACK'S NEST--WOODCOCK--THE LAKE--HERONS--MUSSELS-- +REIGN OF TERROR IN THE LAKE. + +A place where the bank of the brook has been dug away so as to form a +sloping approach to the water, in order that cattle may drink without +difficulty, is much visited by birds in summer. Some cartloads of small +stones originally thrown down to make a firm floor to the drinking-place +have in process of time become worn into sand, which the rain has washed +into the water. This has helped to form a more than usually sandy +bottom to the water just there. Then a bank of mud, or little eyot in +the centre of the stream, thickly overgrown with flags, divides the +current in two, and the swiftest section passes by the drinking-place +and brings with it more sand washed out from the mud; so that just at +the edge there is a floor of fine sand covered with water, which six +inches from shore is hardly an inch deep. This is just the +bathing-place in which birds delight, and here they come, accordingly, +all the summer through, day after day. + +Sparrows, starlings, finches (including the beautiful goldfinches), +blackbirds, and so on, are constantly to and fro. Often several of +different species are bathing together. The wagtails, of course, are +there. The wagtail wades into the water and stands there. Sometimes he +has the appearance of scraping the bottom with his feet, as if to find +food. Blackbirds are especially fond of this spot, and may be seen +coming to it from the adjacent hedges. They like water, and frequently +feed near it; a blackbird may often be found under the great hawthorn +bushes which overhang the stream. Hawks may be seen occasionally +following the course of the brook or perched on the trees that grow +near; they are doubtless aware of the partiality for water shown by so +many birds. + +The fish have their own favourite places, as the birds in the hedge, and +after leaving the hatch there are none for some distance. Then the +brook suddenly curves and forms a loop, returning almost upon itself +something like the letter 12. The tongue of land thus enclosed is broad +at the top, and but two or three yards across at the bottom. There the +current on either side is for ever endeavouring to eat away the narrow +neck, and forms two deep pools. Some few piles have been driven in on +one side to check the process of disintegration, and a willow tree +overhangs the pool there. By lying on the grass and quietly looking +over the brink, the roach may be seen swimming in the deeper part, and +where it shallows up stream is a perch waiting for what may come down. +Where the water runs slowly on account of a little bay, there, in +semi-darkness under the banks on the mud, are a few tench. + +There are several jacks not far off; but, though they prey on the roach, +it is noticeable that, unless driven by some one passing by, they rarely +go into these deep holes. The jack lies in shallower water and keeps +close to the shore under shelter of the flags, or concealed behind the +weeds. It is as if he understood that every now and then the shoal of +roach will pass round the curve--going from one pool to the other--when +they have to swim through the shallower water. Sometimes a solitary +fish will shift quarters like this, and must go by the jack lying in +ambush. + +At the top of the tongue of land (which is planted with withy) another +brook joins the first: this brook is very deep, and all but stagnant. +In the quiet back-water here--close to and yet out of the swifter +stream--is another haunt of the jack. + +If alarmed, he does not swim straight up or down the centre of the +current but darts half-a-dozen yards in a slanting direction across the +stream and hides under another floating weed. Then, if started afresh, +he makes another zigzag, and conceals himself once more. At first he +remains till you could touch him, if you tried, with a long stick; but +at every remove he grows more suspicious, till at last as you approach +he is off immediately. + +Jacks lie a great deal in the still deep ponds that open off the brook +or are connected with it by a deep ditch; they have been known to find +their way up to a pond from the brook through a subterranean pipe which +supplied it with water. Those that remain in the ponds are usually much +larger than those found in the stream: these are often small--say, a +pound to two pounds in weight. In the spawning season, however, they +come out from the ponds and go up the brook in pairs or trios. They +keep close together side by side--the largest in the centre when there +are three. The brook at that time seems full of jacks; and to any one +who has been accustomed to stroll along it is surprising where they all +come from. + +Although the jacks lie in the quiet ponds most of the time, yet some of +them travel about a great deal, especially the smaller ones ranging from +one to two pounds. These will leap a bay or dam if it interrupts their +voyaging down the stream. I have seen a young jack, about a foot long, +leap over a bay, and fall three or four feet on to the stony floor +below, the stones scarcely covered with water. The jack shot himself +perhaps two feet, and fell on his side on the stones; there he lay +quietly a minute or so, and then gave a bound up, and, lighting in the +current, went down with it. A small jack like this will sometimes go +out into the irrigated meadows, following the water-carriers for a long +distance. + +In quiet, sheltered places, where the water is clear but does not run +too swiftly, the `minnie,' as the stickleback is locally called, makes +its nest beside the bank. A small hole in the sand is excavated, and in +this are laid a number of tiny fibres such as are carried along by the +stream, resembling a miniature faggot. On these fibres the ova are +deposited, and they are then either purposely partly covered with sand +by the minnie, or else the particles that are brought down by the +current gather over the bundle of fibres and conceal it, excepting one +small spot. There several of the slender roots seem to slightly +project, and they are kept clear of mud or sand so as to answer the +purpose of a doorway. I have watched these operations many times, but +never saw the minnie attempt to enter the nest; indeed, he could not +have done, so, the opening not being large enough. + +When the nest has reached this stage of completion it is easy to +discover, because the stickleback keeps watch before it, and at that +season his breast is of a bright crimson hue. He guards the nest with +the greatest care, and if he is tempted away for a minute by some morsel +of food he is back again immediately. If a tiny twig or fibre comes +along and threatens to catch against the nest, he removes it in his +mouth, carrying it out into the stream that it may be swept away. He +also removes the sand whenever it begins to accumulate overmuch. It +would seem as if a current of fresh water were essential to the ova, and +that that is why the opening of the nest is so carefully kept from +becoming choked up. After a while the fry come forth--the most minute +creatures imaginable, mere lines about half the length of the +fingernail. They play round the opening, and will retreat within if +alarmed. + +Where the brook passes under a bridge of some size the current divides +to go through several small arches. There is here some fall, and the +stream is swift and bright, chafing round and bubbling over stones. +Here the `miller's thumbs' are numerous--a bottom fish growing to about +four inches in length, and with a head enormously broad and large in +proportion to its body. They rarely rise from the mud or sand; they +hide behind stones, their heads buried in the sand, but their tails in +sight. Every now and then they change positions, swimming swiftly over +the bottom to another spot. Their voracity is very great, and they +often disappoint the angler by taking his bait. The cottage people are +said to eat them. + +The `stwun loach'--stone loach, as the lads call it--hides also behind +and under stones, and may be caught by hand. These loach are apparently +capricious in their habits; certain spots abound with them, in others +you may search the stream in vain for a long distance. So, too, with +the gudgeon: I noticed in one brook I frequently passed that they never +came up beyond one particular bend, though there was no apparent +difference in the soil or in the stream itself. In the brook the jack +do not seem to care much about them; but in the lake above there are no +gudgeon, and there a gudgeon is a fatal bait. Nothing is so certain to +take; the gudgeon will tempt the pike there when an ordinary roach may +be displayed before him without the slightest effect. + +A flood which brings down a large quantity of suspended mud and sand +discolouring the water attracts the fish: they are looking for food. +But too much mud compels them to shift their quarters. This is well +known to those who net the stream. They stretch the net across the +brook a few yards below a bridge or short culvert--places much haunted +by fish. Then the bottom of the stream above the culvert is thoroughly +stirred up with a pole till the water is thick with mud, and this, +passing through the culvert (where the pole cannot be used and the fish +would otherwise be safe), forces them to descend the stream and enter +the net. Probably they attempt to swim up stream first, but are +deterred by the pole thrust under the water, and then go down. It is +said that even eels, who like mud, will move if the volume of mud sent +through is thick enough and continued sufficiently long. + +The fact that a little stirring of the bottom attracts fish is made use +of along the Thames to attract bait for those night-lines which are the +detestation of the true angler. The bait catcher has a long pole, at +the end of which are iron teeth like a rake. With this he rakes up the +mud, waits a few seconds, and then casts a net, which generally brings +some minnows or other small fish to shore. These fish are then placed +in a bucket, and finally go on the night-lines. + +The ditches as they open on the brook are the favourite resorts of all +aquatic life, and there most of the insects, beetles, etc, that live in +the water may be discovered. They form, too, one of the last resorts of +the reeds; these beautiful plants have been much diminished in quantity +by the progress of agriculture. One or two great mounds by the brook +can show a small bed still, and here and there a group grows at the +mouth of these deep ditches, on the little delta formed of the sand, +mud, and decaying twigs brought down. I have cut them fifteen feet in +length. Some people, attracted by the beauty of the feathery heads of +these reeds, come a considerable distance to get them. I have made pens +of them: it is possible to write with such pens, and they are softer +than quills, but on account of that softness quickly wear out. + +A woodcock may occasionally be flushed from such a ditch in winter. +Woodcocks are fond of those ditches down which there always trickles a +tiny thread of water--hardly so much as would be understood by the term +streamlet--coming from a little spring which even in severe frosts is +never frozen. Ever when the running brook is frozen such little spring: +are free of ice, and so, too, is the streamlet for some distance. + +From the bed of the brook proper the reeds are gone--they have taken +refuge in nooks and corners. This is probably accounted for by the +periodical cleaning out of the brook--not annually, but every now and +then, in order to prevent the flooding which would be caused by the +accumulation of mud and sand. The roots of the flags seem to withstand +this rod: treatment; but many other water plants cannot, and are +consequently only found in places which have not been disturbed for many +years. + +There is as much difference in ponds as in hedges, so far as inhabitants +are concerned. Many fields and hedges seem comparatively deserted, +while others are full of birds; and so of several ponds which do not +apparently vary much--one is a favourite haunt of fish, and another has +not got a single fish in it. One pond particularly used to attract my +attention, because it seemed devoid of any kind of life: not even a +stickleback could be found in it, though they will live in the smallest +ditches, and this pond was fed by a brook in which there were fish. Not +even a newt lived in it--it was a miniature Dead Sea. Another pond was +remarkable for innumerable water-snails. When the wind blew hard they +sometimes lined the lee shore to which they had drifted. + +The herons are at the same time the largest and most regular visitors to +the mere out of which the brook flows. One or more may generally be +found there at some time of the day all the year round; but there is a +remarkable diminution in their numbers during the nesting season. The +nearest heronry must be about thirty miles distant, which probably +explains their absence at that time. It also happens that just before +the summer begins the mere is usually at its greatest height; the water +is deep almost everywhere, and there are fewer places where the herons +could fish with success. + +They fly at a great height in the air, and a single stroke of the huge +wings seems to propel the bird a long distance; so that though at first +sight they appear to move very slowly, the eye being deceived by the +slow stroke of the wings, they really go at a good pace. They do not +seem to have any regular hours of visiting the lake--though more seem to +arrive in the afternoon--but they have distinct lines of flight along +which they may be expected to come. In winter, however, they show more +regularity, going down from the lake to the water-meadows in the +evening, and returning in the early morning--that is, supposing the lake +to be open and free from ice. If the shores are frozen a heron or two +may be found in the water-meadows all day. + +In the autumn, after a dry summer, is the best time to watch them. The +water is then low; numerous small islands appear, and long narrow +sandbanks run out fifty or sixty yards with shoals on either side. +After a very dry season the level of the water is so much reduced that +in the broadest (and shallowest) part the actual strand where the water +begins is a hundred yards or more from the nearest hedge. This is just +what the heron likes, because no one can approach him over that flat +expanse of dried mud without being immediately detected. I have seen as +many as eight herons standing together in a row on one such narrow +sandbank in the daytime, in regular order like soldiers: there were six +more on adjacent islands. They were not feeding--simply standing +motionless. As soon as it grew dark they dispersed, and ventured then +down the lake to those places near which footpaths passed. + +But although the night seems the heron's principal feeding time, he +frequently fishes in the day. Generally, his long neck enables him to +see danger, but not always. Several times I have come right on a heron, +when the banks of the brook were high and the bushes thick, before he +has seen me, so as to be for the moment within five yards. His clumsy +terror is quite ludicrous: try how he will he cannot fly fast at +starting; he requires fifty yards to get properly underway. + +What a contrast with the swift snipe, that darts off at thirty miles an +hour from under your feet! The long hanging legs, the stretched-out +neck, the wide wings and body, seem to offer a mark which no one could +possibly miss: yet, with an ordinary gun and snipe-shot, I have had a +heron get away safely like this more than once. You can hear the shot +rattle up against him, and he utters a strange, harsh, screeching +`quaack,' and works his wings in mortal fright, but presently gets +half-way up to the clouds and sails away in calm security. His neck +then seems to drop down in a bend, the head being brought back as he +settles to his flight, so that the country people say the heron often +carries a snake. + +The mark he offers to shot is much less than would be supposed; he is +all length and no breadth; the body is very much smaller than it looks. +But if you can stalk him in the brook till within thirty or forty yards, +and can draw `a bead' on his head as he lifts it up every now and then +to glance over the banks, then you have him easily; a very small knock +in the head being sufficient to stop him. + +The tenacity of life exhibited by the heron is something wonderful: +though shot in the head, and hung up as dead, a heron will sometimes +raise his neck several hours afterwards. To wring the neck is +impossible--it is like leather or a strong spiral spring: you cannot +break it, so that the only way to put the creature out of pain is to cut +the artery; and even then there are signs of muscular contraction for +some time. A labourer once asked me for a heron that I had shot; I gave +it to him, and he cooked it. He said he boiled it eight hours, and that +it was not so very fishy! But even he could not manage the neck part. + +This bird must have a wonderful power of sight to catch its prey at +night, and out of some depth of water. In severe winter weather, when +the lake is frozen, herons evidently suffer much. Most of them leave, +probably for the rivers which do not freeze till the last; but one or +two linger about the water-meadows till they seem to despair of catching +anything; and will alight in the centre of a large pasture field where +there is no water, and stand there for hours disconsolate. I suspect +that the herons in winter time that come to the ponds do so for the fish +which lie at the bottom on the mud packed close together, that is, when +the water is not deep. It is said that when ice protects the fish +herons eat the frogs in the water-meadows; but they can scarcely find +many, for though I have been over the water-meadows day after day for +snipe, I seldom saw a frog about them here. + +When the level of the mere, after a peculiarly dry season, is very low, +is also a good time to observe the habits of many other creatures. +There are always one or more crows about the neighbourhood of the lake; +but at such times a dozen or so may be seen busily at work along the +shore. They prey on the mussels, of which there are great numbers in +the lake. Anyone passing by the water when it is so shallow can hardly +fail to notice long narrow grooves in the sand of the bottom. These +grooves begin near the edge--perhaps within a foot of it--and then run +out into the deeper part. By following these with the eye, the mussel +may often be seen in a foot or two of water--sometimes open, but more +generally closed. The groove in the sand is caused by the keel of the +shell as the creature moves. + +There are hundreds of these tracks; the majority appear to run from +shallow to deep water, but there are others crossing and showing where +the mussel has travelled. One may occasionally be seen in the act of +moving itself, and making the groove in the sand. But they seem as a +rule to move most at night, and to approach the shore closest in the +darkness. In the deep water they are safe; but near the edge the crows +pounce on them and may be seen peering about almost all day long. + +Besides those that are eaten on the shore, numbers of mussels are +carried up on the rising ground where the turf is short and the earth +hard. Until stepped on and broken, the two halves of the shell are +usually complete, and generally still attached, showing that the crow +has split the shell open skilfully. They range from two or three to +nine inches in length. The largest are much less common; those of five +or six inches are numerous. Some of the old-fashioned housewives use a +nine-inch mussel-shell, well cleaned, as a ladle for their sugar jars. + +Now and then, at long intervals, an exceptionally dry season so lowers +the level of the mere that all the shallower parts become land, and are +even passable on foot, though in places quicksands and deep fine mud +must be carefully avoided. The fish that previously could enjoy a swim +of some three-quarters of a mile are then forced to retire to one deep +hole only a few acres in extent. Now commences a reign of terror, of +which it is difficult to convey an adequate idea. + +These waters have not been netted for years, and consequently both pike +and perch have increased to an extraordinary degree, and many of them +have attained huge proportions. Pike of six pounds are commonly caught; +eight, ten, twelve, and fourteen pound fish have often been landed. +There was a tradition of a pike that weighed a quarter of a +hundredweight but one day the tradition was put into the shade by the +capture of a pike that scaled a little over thirty pounds. There are +supposed to be several more such monsters of the deep, since every now +and then some labourer passing by on a sunny day, when jack approach the +shore and bask near the surface, declares that he has seen one as big as +a man's leg. But about the vast number of ordinary-sized jack there can +be no doubt at all; since anyone may see them who will stroll by the +water's edge on a bright warm day, taking care to walk slowly and not to +jar the ground or let his shadow fall on the water before he can glance +round the willows and bushes. Jack may then be seen basking by the +weeds. + +When an exceptionally long continuance of dry weather forces all the +fish to retire to the few acres of water that remain, then these +voracious brutes do as they please with the other fish, and the roach +especially suffer. Every two or three minutes the fry may be seen +leaping into the air in the effort to escape, twenty or thirty at a +time, and falling with a splash. The rush of hundreds and hundreds of +roach causes a wave upon the surface which shows the course they take. +This wave never ceases: as soon as it sinks here it rises yonder, and so +on through the twenty-four hours, day and night. + +The miserable fish, flying for their lives, speed towards the shallow +water, and often, unable to stop themselves, are carried by their +impetus out on the mud and lie there on the land for a few seconds till +they leap back again. Even the jack will sometimes run himself aground +in the eagerness of his pursuit. Looking over the pool, the splash of +the falling fish as they descend after the leap into the air may be +heard in several directions at once, and the glint of their silvery +sides in the sunshine is at the same time visible. At night it is clear +the same thing is going forward, for the splashing continues, though the +wave raised by the panic-stricken crowds cannot be distinguished in the +darkness. + +It is curious to notice how the solitary disposition of the jack shows +itself almost as soon as he comes to life. While the fry of most other +fish swim in shoals, sometimes in countless numbers, the tiny jack, +hardly so long as one's little finger, lurks all alone behind a stone +which forms a miniature harbour. On a warm day almost every such place +has its youthful pirate. Notwithstanding the terror of the roach when +pursued, they will play about apparently without the slightest fear when +the pike is basking in the sun with his back all but on a level with the +surface--that is, when the lake is at its ordinary height. It is as if +they knew their tyrant was enjoying his siesta. + +These roach literally swarm. At their spawning time that part of the +lake the shore of which is stony is positively black with them. For a +distance of some hundred and fifty yards the water for seven or eight +feet from shore is simply a moving mass of roach. They crowd up against +the stones, get underneath them and behind them, enter every little +creek and interstice, and are so jammed by their own numbers that they +may easily be caught by hand. In their anxiety to secure a place they +crush against each other and splash up the water. This impulse only +lasts a day or two in its full vigour, when the multitude gradually +retires into deeper water. + +When thus spawning the roach are preyed on by rats--not the water-rat, +but the house or drain rat. There are always a few of these about the +lake, and they grow to an enormous size. They destroy the roach in +great numbers. I have seen the sand strewn with dead fish opposite and +leading up to their holes; for they catch and kill many more than they +can eat, or even have time to carry away. I have shot at these great +rascals when they have been swimming fifty yards from shore, and I +strongly suspect them of visiting the nests of moorhens and other +waterfowl with felonious purposes. They catch fish at any time they see +a chance, but are most destructive during the spawning season, because +then the roach come within reach. Such rats, too, haunt the ditches and +mounds, and are as dangerous to all kinds of game as any weasel, crow, +or hawk. + +Tench lie in the deep muddy holes. With the exception of the tench, the +greater number of the fish in this mere haunt the sandy and stony +shores. When the lake is full there are broad stretches of water which +are shallow and where the bottom is mud. You may look here in vain for +fish: of course there are some; but as you glide over noiselessly in a +punt, gazing down into the water as you drift before the gentle summer +breeze, you will not see any of those shoals that frequent the other +shores where the bottom is clearer. Other favourite places are where +the brooks run in and where there are sudden shallows in the midst of +deep water. The contour and character of the bottom seem to affect the +habits of fish to a large extent; consequently those who are aware of +the form of the bottom are usually much more successful as fishermen. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +WILDFOWL OF THE LAKE--SEA BIRDS--DRIFT WOOD--FORCES OF NATURE AT WORK-- +WAVES--EVAPORATION--AN EAGLE--FROST AND SNOW--EFFECT ON BIRDS AND +ANIMALS--WATER-MEADOWS--SHOOTING STARS--PHOSPHORESCENCE--WATERSPOUT-- +NOISES `IN THE AIR.' + +The `summer snipe,' or sandpiper, comes to the lake regularly year after +year, and remains during the warm months. About a dozen visit the +shallow sandy reaches running along the edge of the water, when +disturbed flying off just above the surface with a plaintive piping cry. +They describe a semicircle, and come back to the shore a hundred yards +farther on; and will do this as many times as you like to put them up. +Sometimes they feed in little parties of two or three: sometimes alone. +No other place for some distance is visited by the sandpiper: none of +the ponds, or brooks; only the lake. + +In summer but a few species of birds remain on this piece of water. +Only two or three wild ducks stay to breed: their nests are not found on +the mere itself, but in the ponds adjacent. One small pond fed by the +lake and communicating with it--dug where the muddy shore would +otherwise prevent cattle approaching the shallow water--a quiet spot +almost surrounded by bushes, is a favourite nesting-place. The brooks +that run in are occasionally used by ducks in the same way, and one of +the large ditches which is full of flags and rushes and well sheltered +is now and then selected. But the ducks do not breed in any number, +though they used to do so within living memory. + +The coots cannot be overlooked in spring; they chase each other to and +fro over the surface in the liveliest manner, and their nests are +common. Moorhens, of course, are here in numbers. Why is it that they +never seem to learn wisdom in placing their nests? Whether in the lake, +in the ponds, or brooks, they exhibit the same lack of foresight as to +changes of level in the water; so that frequently their nests are quite +drowned out. Occasionally in the brooks the nest is floated bodily down +the stream by a sudden rise. These mishaps they might easily avoid by +placing them a little higher up the bank. + +In the lake there are several acres of withy bushes which when the water +is low are on dry land, but in spring and early summer stand five or six +feet deep. This is a favourite nesting-place with the coots: and they +show the same neglect of the teachings of experience; for their nests +are placed almost on the water, and if it rises, as it often does, they +are flooded. + +It is said that otters used to come to the mere many years ago; but they +have never done so lately, though stories of their having been seen are +frequent. One summer the story was so positive and so often repeated +that I made a thorough search, and found that it originated in the +motions of a large diving bird. This bird swam under water with +wonderful rapidity, and often close to the surface, so that it raised a +wave and could be traced by it. This was the supposed otter. The bird +was afterwards shot, but its exact species does not seem to have been +satisfactorily ascertained. Several kinds of divers, however, have +without doubt been killed. Grebes are often shot. + +Occasionally sea birds come--particularly a species locally called the +`sea-swallow,' which frequently appears after rough winds and remains +flying about over the water for a week or more. Six or eight of these +are sometimes seen at once. The common gull comes at irregular +intervals, generally in the winter or spring; it is said to foretell +rough weather. Occasionally a gull will stay some time, and I have seen +them also in the water-meadows. Considering the distance from the sea, +the gull cannot be called an uncommon bird here. + +Towards winter the wild ducks return; and during all the cold months a +flock of them, varying in number, remains. They are careful to swim +during the day in the centre of the very widest part of the lake, far +out of gunshot; at night they land, or feed along the shore. Teal, and +sometimes widgeon also, visit the place. Once now and then wildfowl +come in countless numbers: it is said to be when they are driven south +by severe weather. On one occasion I saw the lake literally black--they +almost covered it for a length of half a mile and a breadth of about a +quarter. It was a sight not to be quickly forgotten; and the noise of +their wings as vast parties every now and then rose and wheeled around +was something astonishing. They only stayed a few days. + +How many times I have endeavoured to trace the V said to be formed by +duck while flying, and failed to detect it! They fly, it is true, in +some sort of order, but those that come to the mere here travel rather +in a row, or line, slanting forwards, something like what military men +call in echelon. The teal seem much bolder than the wild duck: they are +often shot as they rise out of the brooks; but the ducks very rarely go +to the brooks at all, and can still more rarely be approached when they +do. They swim in the water-carriers in the great irrigated meadows, but +are careful to remain far out of range; so that the only way to shoot +them by day is for two or more sportsmen to post themselves behind the +hedges in different places while a third drives them up. + +The first snipes are seen generally in the arable lands, afterwards +round the lake--the muddy shores by choice--and finally in the brooks. +As the winter advances they seem to quit the lake in great part and go +down to the brooks. A streamlet that runs through a peaty field is a +favourite spot. The little jack-snipe frequent the water-carriers in +the irrigated meadows and the wet furrows. When the lake is frozen over +the wild duck stand on the ice in the daytime for hours together, +leaving the marks of their feet on it. + +In walking along the shore lines of drift may be noticed, marking the +height to which the waves driven by the wind have carried the floating +twigs, weeds, and leaves: just as along the sea the beach is formed into +terraces by the changing height of the tides. The shallower parts of +the lake are so thickly grown in summer with aquatic weeds that a boat +can only be forced through them with the utmost difficulty. Some of +these grow in as much as eight or even ten feet of water. On the shore, +where it is marshy, the mare's-tail flourishes over some acres: there is +often a slight marshy odour here, which increases as the foot presses +the yielding mud. + +When the water is low in autumn these are mown, and, with the aquatic +grasses at the edge and the rushes, made into the roughest kind of hay +imaginable. The coarser parts are used as litter; the best is mixed +with fodder and eaten by cattle. Many waggon-loads are thus taken away, +but as many more remain; and in walking over the spongy ground a smart +`pop' is continually heard: it is caused by the sudden compression of +air under the foot in the mare's-tails lying about; for their stems are +hollow, and have knots at regular intervals. + +After a continuance of the wind in one quarter for a few days--south or +south-west--the opposite shores are lined with such weeds carried +across, together with great quantities of dead branches fallen from the +trees and willows. So that on a small scale the same thing happens as +with the drift wood of the ocean; and, indeed, by studying the action of +natural forces as exhibited in our own pools and brooks, it becomes much +easier to comprehend the gigantic operations by which the surface of the +earth is altered. + +For instance, the north-eastern edge of the water is continually +encroaching on the land, eating away the sandy soil, showing that the +prevalent winds are south and west. The waves, thrown against the shore +with the force they have acquired in rolling six or seven hundred yards, +wash away the earth and undermine the bank, forming a miniature cliff or +precipice, the face of which is always concave, projecting a little at +the foot and also at the top. So much is this the case that an unwary +person walking too near the edge may feel the sward suddenly yield and +find it necessary to scramble off before a few hundredweights of earth +subside into the water. + +In this process the loamy part of the earth is dissipated, or rather +held in suspension, while the small stones and ultimately the heavier +sand fall to the bottom and form the sandy floor preferred by the fish. +The loam discolours the water during a storm for several yards out to +sea, so to say; so that in a boat passing by you know by the hue of the +waves when you are approaching the dangers of the cliffs. This +continuous eating away of the earth proceeds so fast that an old hollow +oak tree now stands--at what may be called the high tide of summer--so +far from the strand that a boat may pass between. + +Like a wooden island the old oak rears itself up in the midst; the waves +break against it, and when there is but a ripple the sunlight glancing +on the water is reflected back, and plays upon the rugged trunk, +illuminating it with a moving design as the wavelets roll in. The water +is so shallow at the edge that the shadows of the ridges of the waves +follow each other over the sandy floor. They reflect the bright rays +upon the tree trunk, where they weave a beautiful lacelike pattern-- +beneath, their own shadows glide along the sand. That sand, too, is +arranged by the ripple in slightly curved lines. These wave-marks, +though so slight that with the hand you may level fifty at a sweep, have +yet sometimes proved durable enough to tell the student after many +centuries where water once has been. Under the foundations of some of +the oldest churches--the monks loved to build near water--the wave-mark +has been found on the original soil. + +In a hollow of the old oak starlings have made their nest and reared +their young in safety for several seasons. They seem to understand that +the water gives them protection, for their nest would not be out of +reach were the tree on land. + +Just as at the seashore the wave curls over in an arch as it comes in +before dissolving in surf and spray, so here when a gale is blowing, +these lesser waves, as they reach the shelving strand, also curl over. +In the early morning, as the sun begins to acquire some strength, the +white mists sweep over the surface and visibly melt and disappear. One +hot summer, when the lake was full, and kept so artificially by the +hatches and dams, I found by observation that its level sank nearly half +an inch every day. This was the more striking because there was at the +same time an influx more than enough to repair the loss from leakage. +Now the evaporation of half an inch of water over such a width of +surface meant the ascension into the atmosphere of many thousands of +gallons; and thus even this insignificant pool might form a cloud of +some magnitude in a few days. What immense vapours may then arise from +the surface of the ocean! + +Sometimes a winter's morning is, I think, almost as beautiful as summer, +when the ice is thick with the sharp frost, and the sun shines in a blue +sky free from clouds. One such morning, while putting on my skates, I +happened to look up, and was surprised to see a bird of unusual +appearance, and large size, soaring slowly overhead. I immediately +recognised an eagle; and that was the solitary occasion on which I ever +saw one here. The bird remained in sight some time, and finally left, +going south-east towards the sun. + +On the afternoon of the day before the beginning of the frost the wind +gradually sinks, and the dead leaves which have been blown to and fro +settle in corners and sheltered places. As the sun sets all is still, +and there is a sense of freshness in the air. Then the logs of wood +thrown on the fire burn bright and clear--the surface of a burning log +breaks up into small irregular squares; and the old folk shake their +heads and say, `It will freeze.' As the evening advances the hoofs of +horses passing by on the road give out a sharp sound--a sign that the +mud is rapidly hardening. The grass crunches under foot, and in the +morning the elms are white with rime; icicles hang from the thatch, and +the ponds are frozen. + +But there is nothing so uncertain as frost: it may thaw, and even rain, +within a few hours; and, on the other hand, even after raining in the +afternoon, it may clear up about midnight, and next morning the ice will +be a quarter of an inch thick. Sometimes it will begin in so +faint-hearted a fashion that the ground in the centre of the fields is +still soft, and will `poach' under the hoofs of cattle, while by the +hedge it is hard. But by slow degrees the cold increases, and ice +begins to form. Again, it will freeze for a week and yet you will find +very little ice, because all the while there has been a rough wind, and +the waves on the lake cannot freeze while in motion. So that a long +frost is extremely difficult to foresee. + +But it comes at last. Two really sharp frosts will cause ice thick +enough to bear a lad at the edge of the lake; three will bear a man a +few yards out; four, and it is safe to cross: in a week the ice is +between three and four inches thick, and would carry a waggon. The +character of ice varies: if some sleet has been falling--or snow, which +facilitates freezing--it is thick in colour; if the wind was still it is +dark, sleek, perfectly transparent. It varies, however, in different +places, in some having a faint yellowish hue. There are always several +places where the ice does not freeze till the last--breathing-holes in +which the ducks swim; and where a brook enters it is never quite safe. + +The snipes come now to the brook and water-meadows. Following the +course of the stream, fieldfares and redwings rise in numbers from every +hawthorn bush, where they have been feeding on the peggles. Blackbirds +start out from under the bushes, where there is perhaps a little moist +earth still. The foam where there is a slight fall is frozen, and the +current runs under a roof of ice; the white bubbles travel along beneath +it. The moorhens cannot get at the water; neither can the herons or +kingfishers. The latter suffer greatly, and a fortnight of such severe +weather is fatal to them. + +I recollect walking by a brook like this, and seeing the blue plumage of +a kingfisher perched on a bush. I swung my gun round ready to shoot as +soon as he should fly, but the bird sat still and took no notice of my +approach. Astonished at this--for the kingfisher sat in such a position +as easily to see anyone coming; and these birds generally start +immediately they perceive a person--I walked swiftly up opposite the +bush. The bird remained on the bough. I put out the barrel of my gun +and touched his ruddy breast with the muzzle: he fell on the ice below. +He had been frozen on his perch during the night, and probably died more +from starvation than from cold, since it was impossible for him to get +at any fish. + +More than once afterwards the same winter I found kingfishers dead on +the ice under bushes, lying on their backs with their contracted claws +uppermost, having fallen dead from roost. Possibly the one found on the +branch may have been partly supported by some small twig. + +That winter snow afterwards fell and became a few inches thick, drifting +in places to several feet. Then it was the turn of the other birds and +animals to feel the pain of starvation. In the meadows the tracks of +rabbits crossed and recrossed till the idea of following their course +had to be abandoned. At first sight it seemed as if the snow had +suddenly revealed the presence of a legion of rabbits where previously +no one had suspected the existence of more than a dozen. But in fact a +couple of rabbits only will so run to and fro on the snow as to cover a +meadow with the imprints of their feet--looking everywhere for a green +blade. + +Yet they only occasionally scratch away the snow, and so get at the +grass. Though the natural instinct of rabbits is to dig, and though +here and there a place may be seen where they appear to have searched +for a favourite morsel, yet they do not seem to acquire the sense of +systematically clearing snow away. They then bark ash--and, indeed, +nearly any young sapling or tree--and visit gardens in the night, as the +hares do also. They creep about along the mounds, being driven by +hunger to search for food all day instead of remaining part of the time +in the buries. + +As to the hares, little more than a week of deep snow cripples their +strength: they will run but twenty or thirty yards, and may be killed +occasionally with a stick or captured alive. They are even more +helpless than rabbits, because the latter still have holes to take +refuge in from danger; but the hare while the snow lasts is a wretched +creature, and knows not where to turn. Birds resort to the +cattle-sheds, to roost; among them the blackbirds, who usually roost in +the hedges. Birds come to the houses and gardens in numbers because the +snow is there cleared away along the paths. + +During severe weather the water-meadows are the most frequented places. +They are rarely altogether frozen. If in the early morning there are +sheets of ice, by noonday a great part will be flooded an inch or two +deep, the water rising over the ice, and forced by it to spread farther, +softening the ground at the sides. The water-carriers are long before +they freeze. Thrushes and blackbirds come to the hedges surrounding +these meadows; the fieldfares and redwings are there by hundreds, and +fly up to the trees if alarmed. + +The old folks say that the irrigated meadows (and other open waters) do +not freeze in the evening till the moon rises; a bright clear moon is +credited with causing the water to `catch'--that is, the slender, +thread-like spicules form on the surface, and, joining together, finally +cover it. It is, of course, because the water-meadows are long before +altogether frozen that the duck and teal come down to them. When the +brooks are frozen is almost the only time when the dabchick can be got +to rise: at other times this bird will dive and redive, and double about +in the water, and rather be caught by the spaniels than take wing. But +when the ice prevents this they will fly. Wood-pigeons go to the few +places that remain moist, and also frequent the hawthorn bushes with the +fieldfares. They seem fond of trees that are overgrown with ivy, +probably for the berries. + +The fish are supposed to go down upon the mud; but the jacks certainly +do the reverse: they may be seen lying just beneath the ice, and +apparently touching it with their backs. They seem partly torpid. In +open winters, such as we have had of recent years, the hedge fruit +remains comparatively untouched by birds: from which it would appear +that it is not altogether a favourite food. + +The country folk, who are much about at night and naturally pay great +heed to the weather, are persuaded that on rainy nights more shooting +stars are seen than when it is bright and clear. The kind of weather +they mean is when scudding clouds with frequent breaks pass over, now +obscuring and now leaving part of the sky visible, and with occasional +showers. These shooting stars, they say, are but just above the clouds, +and are mere streaks of light: by which they mean to convey that they +have no apparent nucleus and are different from the great meteors which +are sometimes seen. + +I have myself been often much interested in the remarkable difference of +the degree of darkness when there has been no moon. There are nights +when, although the sky be clear of visible cloud and the stars are +shining, it is, in familiar phrase, `as black as pitch.' The sky itself +is black between the stars, and they do not seem to give the slightest +illumination. On the other hand, there are nights without a moon when +it is (though winter time) quite light. Hedges and trees are plainly +visible; the road is light, and anything approaching can be seen at some +distance, and this occasionally happens though the sky be partly +clouded. So that the character of the night does not seem to depend +entirely upon the moon or stars. The shepherds on the hills say that +now and then there comes an intense blackness at night which frightens +the sheep and makes them leap the hurdles. + +When logs of timber are split for firewood they are commonly stacked +`four square,' and occasionally such a stack, four or five feet high, +may be seen all aglow with phosphorescence. Each individual split piece +of wood is distinctly visible--a pale faintly yellow light seems to be +emitted from its surface. At the same time the ends of the +faggot-sticks projecting from the adjacent stack of faggots also glow as +if touched with fire. So vivid is the light that at the first glance it +is quite startling--as if the whole collection of wood were just on the +point of bursting into flame. In passing old hollow trees sometimes +they appear illuminated from within: the light proceeds from the +decaying `touchwood.' Old willow trees are sometimes streaked with such +light from the top to the foot of the trunk. As this phosphorescence is +only occasional, it would seem to depend on the condition of the +atmosphere. + +I once noticed what looked like a glowworm on a window-blind at night, +but there was no glowworm there; the light was of a pale greenish hue. +In the morning an examination showed that the linen was decayed and +almost rotten just in that particular spot, and it had slightly turned +colour. Glowworms are uncommon in the district which has been more +particularly described. + +The _ignis fatuus_ is almost extinct; so much so that +Jack-o'-the-Lantern has died out of the village folklore. On one +occasion, however, I saw what at a distance seemed a bright light +shining in a ditch where two hedges met. Thinking some mischief was +going on, I went to the spot, when the light disappeared; but on +retiring, after a search which proved that no one was about, it came +into view again. A second time I approached, and a second time the +light died out. A few nights afterwards it was there again, and must +clearly have been some kind of _ignis fatuus_. There was a small +quantity of stagnant water in the ditch, and a good deal of rotting +wood--branches fallen from trees. + +One of the most interesting phenomena in connection with the weather +seems to me to be the radiation of clouds. It appears to be more +commonly visible in the evening, and, when fully developed, there is a +low bank on the horizon, roughly arched, from which streamers of cloud +trail right across the sky, through the zenith and down to the horizon +opposite. Near each horizon these streamers or lines almost touch; +overhead they are wider apart--an effect of perspective, I suppose. +Often the lines do not stretch so far, hardly to the zenith, where they +spread out like a fan. If the sun has gone down, and the cloud chances +to be white, these lines greatly resemble the aurora borealis, which +takes the same form, and, when pale, can scarcely be distinguished from +them, except for the streamers shooting--now extending, now +withdrawing--while the cloud streamers only drift slowly. Sometimes +there is but one line of cloud, a single streamer stretching right +across the sky. So far as I have been able to observe, this radiation +is usually followed by wind blowing in a direction parallel to the +course of the streamers. + +Once while walking in winter I was overtaken by a storm of rain, and +took shelter behind a tree, which for some time kept me perfectly dry. +But suddenly there came an increase of darkness, and, glancing round, I +saw a black cloud advancing in the teeth of the wind, and close to the +earth. The trees it passed were instantly blotted out, and as it +approached I could see that in the centre it bulged and hung down--or +rather slightly slanting forward--in the shape of an inverted cone with +the apex cut off. This bulging part was of a slaty black, and the end +travelled over the earth not higher than half the elevation of an +ordinary elm. It came up with great speed, and in a moment I was +completely drenched, and the field was flooded. It did not seem so much +to rain as to descend in a solid sheet of water; this lasted a very +short time, and immediately afterwards the storm began to clear. Though +not a perfect waterspout, it was something very near it. The tree +behind which I had taken shelter stood near a large pond, or mere; and I +thought at the time that that might have attracted the cloud. The field +quite ran with water, as if suddenly irrigated, but the space thus +flooded was of small area--about an acre. + +The haymakers sometimes talk of mysterious noises heard in the very +finest weather, when it is still and calm, resembling extremely distant +thunder. They were convinced it was something `in the air;' but I feel +certain it was the guns of the fleet exercising at sea. In that case +the sound of the explosion must have travelled over fifty miles in a +direct line--supposing it to come from the neighbourhood of the nearest +naval station. I have found by observation that thunder cannot be heard +nearly so far as the sound of cannon. I doubt whether it is often heard +more than ten miles. Some of the old cottage folk are still positive +that it is not the lightning but the thunder that splits the trees; they +ask if a great noise does not make the windows rattle, and want to know +whether a still greater one may not rive an oak. They allow, however, +that the mischief is sometimes done by a thunder-bolt. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wild Life in a Southern County, by +Richard Jefferies + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY *** + +***** This file should be named 36949.txt or 36949.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/9/4/36949/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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