Frances Pitt

“{{wikipedia-inline}}”

“The {{w|Common kestrel|kestrel}}, that common small hawk, may also be known and instantly distinguished from the {{w|Eurasian sparrowhawk|sparrow-hawk}} — which is more of a woodland bird — by it manner of hovering in the air. The sparrow-hawk glides along, dashes round bushes, sweeps over a hedge and disappears; but the kestrel mounts to a fair height, quivers its wings, spreads its tail like a fan and hangs poised in mid-arie for what seems to the watcher a considerable time.It is watching for {{w|Short-tailed field vole|field-vole}}s in the herbage below.”

“Another small bird that has to find shelter these winter nights is the {{w|Eurasian wren|common wren}}, or 'Jenny Wren' as we call it in the countryside, and it likes snug quarters, a really good place being often patronised by several birds. A hayrick is a popular dormitory.”

“There are many ferocious predators in the {{w|Pond life|watery world of pond and ditch}}, such as that carnivorous monster the {{w|Dragonfly#Life cycle|dragonfly larva}} and the bloodthirsty {{w|Great diving beetle|great water beetle, Dytiscus marginalia}}, with its equally predatory grub.”

“{{small caps|Carries the Horn}}, to say a person "carries the horn" signifies that he hunts the pack. It is often said of a {{w|Fox hunting#People|Master}} that he "carries the horn," meaning that he acts as {{w|Fox hunting#People|huntsman}}, or contrawise that he "does not carry the horn" which means he employs a huntsman to hunt hounds for him.”

“... {{w|sentimentality}} has no place beneath the trees nor where the fresh winds blow. Hunt and be hunted is the rule of wild life.”

“Glorious with the hues of the {{w|tropics}}, a living gem of colour that seems strangely out of place beside our quiet English rivers and babbling streams, the kingfisher is well and aptly names, for it is indeed clad in royal robes, a very king of birds and a prince of fishers. There is no bird on the {{w|List of birds of Great Britain|British list}} to compare with it for brilliance of colouring, but of its hues bird-books give us little idea.”

“It is because they kill the tiresome mice that people should not shoot, or trap, or allow the eggs to be taken, of hawks and owls. Owls, and the {{w|kestrel}} in particular, live almost entirely on mice and young rats, and when we kill a {{w|Western barn owl|barn owl}} (the barn owl is the white owl which files about so silently over the fields) we are allowing hundreds of mice to live and thrive and eat our things.”