Where loads of corn have passed through gates the bushes often catch some straws, and the tops of the gateposts, being decayed and ragged, hold others.

These are neglected while the seeds among the stubble, the charlock, and the autumn dandelion are plentiful and while the ears left by the gleaners may still be found.

But in the shadowless winter days, hard and cold, each scattered straw is sought for.
A few days before the new year [1879] opened I saw a yellow-hammer attacking, in a very ingenious manner, a straw that hung pendent, the ear downwards, from the post of a windy gateway.

She fluttered up from the ground, clung to the ear, and outspread her wings, keeping them rigid.

The draught acted on the wings, just as the breeze does on a paper kite, and there the bird remained supported without an effort while the ear was picked.