It was a little , one-storeyed dwelling , roofed with rough timber , heathery divots , and straw thatch , and divided into two small rooms , with a box-bed as the division between `but and ben' .sx The walls were roughly plastered with clay , the floor was of hard-beaten clay , and there was no ceiling .sx When Betty was not working out of doors , she was knitting or sewing .sx She contrived all her own clothing , and made for others besides .sx By and by she placed an order with a canvasser for a treadle sewing machine .sx It was forwarded to a house on the highway at a point over a mile from her cot , to be called for .sx When Betty arrived she asked , `Is there a bit parcellie here for me ?sx ' `Parcellie !sx ' exclaimed the woman of the house ; `there's a big box cam' wi' the 'bus that neither you nor I will be able to lift !sx ' `G'awa' wi' ye !sx It's but a sewin' machine , and nae sae heavy as a' that .sx ' With the box slung over her shoulders as a fishwife carries her creel , Betty set off for home .sx But she had more than once to rest by the way , with her back against a dyke .sx When nearly home , someone passed , saying , `That's a gey birn ye hae , Betty .sx ' `Ay , it is raither mair than I thocht , or else I'm turnin' waur o' the wear .sx I canna understand it !sx I'm sure I've carried a heavier birn mony a time , on-nott a rist ( without a rest) .sx ' J.W. .sx RECALCITRANT Aberdeen .sx The granite city simply will not live down to its reputation .sx The other month the Editor of THE COUNTRYMAN , speaking as president of the National Folk Cookery Association , and it may be with an eye to giving the reporters a paragraph , expressed the opinion that it was possible to get more good food for your money in Aberdeen than anywhere in Great Britain .sx And now here is a resident , or rather an ex-resident , bequeathing a useful sum the interest of which is to be used by the Council `for assisting to feed the wild birds in or about the city in winter' .sx The result of an advertising campaign , too , is interesting .sx The Scottish Farmers' Union and the Scottish .sx Chamber of .sx Agriculture co-operated to spend 1000 upon advertising milk .sx The result , within the limits of the city alone , was that consumption through the regular pool-controlled channels went up by three hundred gallons daily .sx Now there was a difference of eightpence a gallon between the price the farmers received for milk sold to be drunk and surplus milk sold in bulk to creameries .sx These three hundred new gallons represented , therefore , an increased income to farmers of 10 each day , or in a year more than three times the total cost of the advertising campaign .sx Further , the dairies profited in proportion , and undoubtedly milk consumption increased in the villages and towns which circle Aberdeen , and were reached by the advertising .sx S.T. .sx THE Seasons of the rear in Wales .sx It is an unlucky person who has no opportunity of seeing the pageant of spring on the mountains of Snowdonia .sx Wales is most beautiful in the early days of spring and in the early autumn .sx In spring we watch the winter snow on the hills fighting a losing battle with the sun .sx Slowly but very surely we behold the green mountain sward climbing higher and higher until at last it ousts the snow completely and mingles with the heather .sx Summer shows the country and mountain sides dressed in their fullness , every tree and every bush giving forth its utmost .sx Late September and October see the wooded slopes once again in their glory , their now multi-coloured seared beauty comparable only with the fresh beauty of spring .sx GATHERINGS of the People .sx Eisteddfodau , competitive meetings , point-to-point meetings , and ploughing matches are giving way to sheep-dog trials , singing festivals , carnivals and sports .sx A gathering of great interest , the Harlech Festival held in June , brings a large number of European and American enthusiasts .sx All Welsh life centres round the Royal National Eisteddfod which is held yearly during the first week in August .sx Every other Eisteddfod , festival , and .sx Cymanfa is but a preparation ; here music , art and literature have their expression .sx While there are many people in Britain who have not yet paid the great Eisteddfod a visit there are scores of people who make the journey every year from Australia , New Zealand , China and America ; for them it is less a journey than a pilgrimage .sx Swansea will be the Mecca of Welsh children this summer .sx Their Olympic sports are to be held there under the auspices of Urdd Gobaith Cymru Fach ( the League of Hope of the Children of Wales) .sx This movement , which is similar to the scout movement , numbers 50,000 .sx On Goodwill Day the yearly message of the children of Wales was broadcast for the eleventh year in succession from almost every station in the world .sx The message spoke of the world being `like a big village now that we have been brought within hearing distance of each other' .sx A gratifying sign is the large number of summer schools this year , run by the Workers' Educational Association , local education authorities and other bodies .sx Courses are given in every conceivable subject and the courses are well booked up in advance .sx Coleg Harlech shows signs of having a record year .sx During the spring the Society for the Preservation of Rural Wales has been very active and has been lucky in obtaining the services of good speakers .sx The hiking movement has had a great impetus from the establishment of a chain of delightfully situated Youth Hostels .sx The settlement of the flag question at the splendid old castle of Caernarvon was welcomed by the whole country , and the two flags will be flying together for many a long day .sx Beaumaris Castle has been greatly improved by the work carried out by the Office of Works .sx J.W.H. .sx Have You thought of This - ?sx If you are considering economy , a solid balustrade to the airs can be made of plyboard and panelled , a plan which will minimise cleaning in your new house .sx Problems and Incidents of Bird Life .sx THE Sparrow Hawk and her Young .sx I have photographed three hen sparrow hawks at the nest .sx The hen attends to the feeding of the young when in the nest and the male bird does the hunting ; but when the young attain the age of about three weeks , and their requirements increase , the food supply is augmented by the hen hunting near at home .sx The average feeding periods occur about every two and a half hours .sx From this a rough calculation can be made of the number of victims taken per day by one pair of birds for their young alone .sx Feeding over , the hen may attend to her toilet .sx With her feathers ruffled out , she loses to some extent her fierce look , and appears more like a contented hen pheasant which has just had a dust bath .sx The male bird calls upon his arrival with food .sx He has a favourite tree , possibly two , and upon his chosen branch he plucks the prey .sx The hen , who is never far away , alights almost noiselessly on the nest .sx Always is she wary after alighting , standing still with the prey under one foot .sx Small pieces of flesh are violently plucked from the prey , but are daintily offered to the young .sx The strongest and most hungry usually obtain more than their fair share , but towards the end of the feed a backward chick will be looked after .sx The entrails of the prey are never offered .sx These are either dropped over the side of the nest or eaten by the hen .sx The prey consists in my experience , almost entirely of birds .sx I saw no trace of game .sx When watching one nest from my hide I noticed that the hen was not the bird I had photographed five or six days before .sx The general plumage was different , so also was the size of the bird , and some white spots the size of a shilling , which had been most noticeable , were absent .sx This stepmother successfully reared the chicks .sx I can only conclude that the actual mother had been killed , and the male bird had found a hen who took over the rearing of the young .sx Such a thing has been known in the case of the .sx peregrine falcon .sx It is strange that should a hen sparrow hawk get killed before the young are able to feed themselves , they may perish by hunger , although around them is food in plenty brought by the male bird .sx He does not seem to know that he must not only bring food but tear it up and offer it .sx W. P. Green .sx WHO takes the Larch Cones ?sx To the interesting note on the crossbills I should like to add the fact that , when not residents , they are normally winter visitors .sx You .sx can always tell whether a larch cone has been wrenched off by a crossbill or come off in the ordinary way or by the agency of squirrels .sx A. W. .sx TAME Sparrows .sx Is there any real foundation for the belief that sparrows are difficult to tame ?sx Miss Mayer's story in the April COUNTRYMAN reminds me of a sparrow nestling picked up before it was fully feathered and brought up by my people on what it was supposed might be suitable food .sx The creature thrived , and got its suit of feathers , but , perhaps because the food was not entirely appropriate , the feathers all came out again until it was absolutely naked .sx This indecent but friendly object would take food from our plates and peck us if we resisted its depredations .sx Eventually the feathers were renewed , and on a day when the window was open , the bird flew away .sx N. .sx NUTS for Birds .sx After reading the article in THE COUNTRYMAN , `Taming Nuthatches' , I bought some barcelona nuts .sx But with barcelonas at ninepence a pound , and the nuthatches taking anything up to twenty a day , .sx I began to experiment with other nuts .sx Now I buy every week a pound of peanuts which all the tits and the nuthatches seem to like .sx A handful will disappear while I am at break-fast .sx I shell most of them , and split the larger ones , as the tits find them awkward to carry away whole .sx Twice a nuthatch has tried to wedge a barcelona in the bricks of an old shed in the garden , but each time the nut fell .sx The nuthatches endeavour to pick up two or three half peanuts at a time , but can seldom manage more than one .sx T.M.J. .sx GOLDCREST and Wood Mouse .sx Golden-crested wrens nest in my garden every year , and usually in the same situation the light little pocket slung under the end of a branch of spruce .sx I have had them in other situations , once low down in an Irish yew , so that I could look at the young birds day by day till they flew ; once breast-high in a golden yew , and that was a nest which somehow tumbled sideways and tipped out one of the babies , but which I sewed up with wool so that the mother came back to it ; and once I had a nest in a gorse bush .sx But this year I have one in a situation which is unique in my experience .sx One morning early in May I saw a small bird carry a feather into a gorse bush near where a gold-crest nested once before .sx I watched , and when the bird returned with another feather I saw that it was a gold-crest .sx I looked for its nest .sx All that I could find , low down in a clipped gorse bush , was the nest , woven of dry grass with an opening at the side , of a wood mouse , Mus sylvaticus wintoni .sx So I watched further , and soon there was no doubt about it , the little bird was lining the mouse's nest with feathers .sx And as I write on May 18th she is sitting on her eggs , and will let me come and look at her quite closely , with her head among the feathers just inside the opening .sx