Thomas Hardy's description of the mannerly birds (what kind, one wonders; starlings maybe, or blackbirds?) living in thoughtful harmony with the house-owner, is an engaging concept.
A BIRD-SCENE AT A RURAL DWELLING
When the inmate stirs, the birds retire discreetly
From the window-ledge, whereon they whistled sweetly
And on the step of the door,
In the misty morning hoar;
But now the dweller is up they flee
To the crooked neighbouring codlin-tree;
And when he comes fully forth they seek the garden,
And call from the lofty costard, as pleading pardon
For shouting so near before
In their joy at being alive:
Meanwhile the hammering clock within goes five.
I know a domicile of brown and green,
Where for a hundred summers there have been
Just such enactments, just such daybreaks seen.
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