Page:The home of a naturalist (IA homeofnaturalist00edmouoft).pdf/16

2 and trees. In a land altogether treeless, this feature becomes at once a striking and most pleasing one. Every tree was planted by the Naturalist himself, with what cost and labour was known to him only. He watched over their growth with the fostering care of a parent, and thought the time and money he spent upon his little plantation well spent. When asked by the sneering money-grubbers: "Will that sort of thing make the pot boil?" he replied, smiling: "Certainly; nothing better than sticks for making the fire burn and the pot boil!"

But what was his joy to find, as the years went past, and his trees became acclimatised, that woodland birds were attracted by them, and finding both shelter and food, took up their abode among the kindly branches. Nor did the birds come merely as stray visitors, but as actual residenters. The chaffinch and woodpecker, the wren and the hedge-accentor—once but rarely seen, and then only as solitary wanderers—now colonised the shrubbery. The cross-bill, the rose-coloured pastor, the fieldfare, the mealy redpole, redstart, linnet, and blackbird, became familiar visitors. The Naturalist's heart rejoiced.

But there was one serious drawback to his delightful contemplation of the feathered woodfolk who had so graciously lighted among his greenery. If he loved birds, he also loved beasts, and of all beasts a cat was the delight of his soul. Now cats, like naturalists, take intense pleasure in crouching in quiet corners to watch the motions of winged creatures. To be sure,