Weasels, stoats,
and rats spare neither egg, parents, nor offspring. Some of the dogs
that run wild will devour eggs; and hawks pounce on the brood if they
see an opportunity. Owls are said to do the same. The fitchew, the
badger, and the hedgehog have a similarly evil reputation; but the first
is rare, the second almost exterminated in many districts; the
third--the poor hedgehog--is common, and some keepers have a bitter
dislike to them. Swine are credited, with the same mischief as the worst
of vermin at this particular season; but nowadays swine are not allowed
to run wild in cultivated districts, except in the autumn when the
acorns are falling.
As the nests are on the ground they are peculiarly accessible, and the
eggs, being large, are tempting. Perhaps the mowing machine is as
destructive as anything; and after all these there is the risk of a wet
season and of disease. Let the care exercised be never so great, a
certain amount of mortality must occur.
While the young partridges gradually become strong and swift, the nuts
are increasing in size, and ripening upon the bough. The very hazel has
a pleasant sound--not a nut-tree hedge existed in the neighbourhood that
we did not know and visit. We noted the progress of the bushes from the
earliest spring, and the catkins to the perfect nut.
There are threads of brilliant scarlet upon the hazel in February,
though the gloom of winter lingers and the 'Shuck--a--sheck!' of the
fieldfare fleeing before the snow sounds overhead.
Pages:
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68