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THREE BIRDS' POSTS BY ELSIE LINGWOOD.
IN front of our house stand three posts, grey with age and not even straight ; they are very unsightly.—Undoubtedly our friends say to each other, in discreet undertones, " Why on earth don't they remove those hideous things ? " In fact one visitor remarked, very pointedly, that a row of lupins would look pretty " where the posts are." But nothing would induce us to remove them, for upon those posts, more than anything eise in the garden, thefieldglasses have been focused. It seems probable that almost every bird which has visited us has sat for a few moments, often much longer, upon one of them ; occasionally all were occupied at the same time. A Greenfinch, a Robin and a Whitethroat have been observed perched in a row, all ignoring their companions. Every year a Cuckoo has arranged itself upon a post, the grey colour making excellent Camouflage. She sits there for some time, now and againfloppingdown to pick up a morsel to eat. Does she wait for a small bird to leave its nest in the hedge opposite ? Oddly enough, whatever generation they may belong to, the Cuckoos like to keep the same post in the family. Once a young Cuckoo balanced itself upon this special post, opening its beak hopefully to every passing Bird. Blackbirds uttered warning cries but did not actually mob the sitter, a Wilow-wren which was nesting in the herbage below had an attack of hysterics and gave a remarkable Performance, which included a form of aerial somersaults. Then a Chaffinch, looking pathetically small, arrived to drop food into the gaping beak. Suddenly something disturbed the party ; the Cuckooflewto the hedge, the other Birds vanished and the Wilow-wren became normal. Nightingales perch lightly upon the posts, in Aying from one end to the other of the garden ; young Red-backed Shrikes have sat upon them, insistently demanding food from their busy parent. A few years ago a Whinchat spent a day with us, but unfortunately the welcome it received from the other Birds was not a good one and, every time our lovely visitor left its perch to catch an Insect, there was always some Bird ready to intervene, so that the poor Whinchat had to return, still hungry, to its place. The old posts contain cracks which are obviously fßll of good things to eat, and Green Woodpeckers are constantly investigating them. Last year, upon that nearest the house, sat a Bird which had never been seen in the garden before : it was a Spotted Woodpecker, tapping away in grand style. A frantic though silent search with the field glasses, revealed that the newcomer