The reason why birds do not care much for berries before they are forced to take to them by frost is because of the stone within, so that the food afforded by the berries is really small.

Yew-berries are an exception; they have a stone, but the covering to it is sweet, succulent, and thick, and dearly loved by thrushes.

In the ditch the tall grasses, having escaped the scythe, bowed low with the weight of their own awn-like seeds.
The corner was not far off now; and I waited awhile behind a large hawthorn bush growing on the 'shore' of the ditch, thinking that I might see the pheasant on the mound, or that at least he would recover confidence if he had previously heard anything.

Inside the bush was a nest already partly filled with fallen leaves, like a little basket.
A rabbit had been feeding on the other side, but now, suspicious, came over the bank, and, seeing me, suddenly stopped and lifted himself up.
In that moment I could have shot him, being so near, without putting the gun to the shoulder, by the sense of direction in the hands; the next he dived into a burrow.

Looking round the bush, I now saw the pheasant in the hedge, that crossed at right angles in front; this was fortunate, because through that hedge there was another meadow.