Even so, I cannot help thinking they would have been wiser to train the birds, while they were about it, to deliver the letters nearer the ground.

Getting your letters out of those boxes must be tricky work even to the average middle-aged German." I followed his gaze out of window.

I said: "Those are not letter-boxes, they are birds' nests.

You must understand this nation.

The German loves birds, but he likes tidy birds.