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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
212
Another
curious
incident
in
which
birds
are
concerned
occurred
in
the
spring
of
1884
at
Shewbridge
Hall,
near
Nantwich,
in
Cheshire.
For
the
convenience
of
the
people
at
the
Hall,
a
letter-box
is
placed
by
the
gate
at
the
roadside,
into
which
the
post-runner
drops
the
correspondence
addressed
to
Shewbridge
Hall.
Mr
Lockett,
the
occupier
of
the
house,
expecting
a
letter
from
Liverpool,
containing
a
cheque
for
L10,
went
to
the
box,
where,
as
it
happened,
he
found
the
letter,
but
in
a
mutilated
state,
and
the
cheque
gone.
Believing
that
a
robbery
of
his
box
had
been
committed,
or
that
the
letter
had
been
violated
before
being
deposited
therein,
he
forthwith
rode
into
Nantwich
to
report
the
matter
at
the
post-office
and
to
the
police.
Returning
later
on,
he
examined
the
box
more
closely,
and
discovered
tomtits
inside;
and
further
investigation
led
to
the
discovery
of
the
cheque
lying
twenty
yards
away
on
the
turnpike
road,
whither
it
had
evidently
been
carried
for
examination.
The
cheque
was
folded
small,
and
could
therefore
be
easily
carried
by
these
small
birds.
The
tomtits
had
taken
possession
of
the
box
for
nesting
purposes,
and
perhaps
they
found
the
letter
to
be
in
the
way,
and
accordingly
made
an
effort
to
remove
it.
In
the
spring
of
the
previous
year
a
pair
of
tomtits
built
their
nest
in
this
letter-box
(possibly
the
same
pair),
and
reared
a
brood
of
young,
though
letters
were
being
dropped
into
the
box
every
day.
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