The
brilliant cockbirds return in the early spring, or at least appear to do
so, for the habits of birds are sometimes quite local.
It is probable that in severe and continued frost many hedgehogs die. On
January 19 [1879], in the midst of the sharp weather, a hedgehog came to
the door opening on the garden at night, and was taken in. Though
carefully tended, the poor creature died next day: it was so weak it
could scarcely roll itself into a ball. As the vital heat declined the
fleas deserted their host and issued from among the spines. In February,
unless it be a mild season, the mounds are still bare; and then under
the bushes the ground may be sometimes seen strewn with bulbous roots,
apparently of the blue-bell, lying thickly together and entirely
exposed.
The moucher now carries a bill-hook, and as he shambles along the road
keeps a sharp look-out for briars. When he sees one the roots of which
are not difficult to get at, and whose tall upright stem is green--if
dark it is too old--he hacks it off with as much of the root as
possible. The lesser branches are cut, and the stem generally trimmed;
it is then sold to the gardeners as the stock on which to graft standard
roses. In a few hours as he travels he will get together quite a bundle
of such briars. He also collects moss, which is sold for the purpose of
placing in flowerpots to hide the earth.
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