"THE PASSER BYE OFT STOPS HIS HORSE TO LOOK"*
            John Clare
                c. 1836?
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The passer bye oft stops his horse to look
To see strange birds sit building like the rook
And every stranger ere he passes bye
Will stop and hollow shoo to see them flye
They swee about the trees a flopping herd
He goes and thinks them some outlandish bird
They bring their sticks nor fear the noisey clown
And load the trees till nearly broken down
They little think the crane will leave the floods
And make their nests like crows among the woods
They lay their sticks so thick each awkward guest
That boys might might stand and walk from nest to nest
Their eggs are long and green and spotted brown
And winds will come and often throw them down


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* later given the editorial title "The Crane's Nest" ("crane"
    apparently misnomer-slang for the Gray Heron in Clare's
    time & milieu)

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