0LEANIKG3 BY THE WAY. 



171 



birds I ever observed ia these parts were a pair of Hoopoes, which came 

 several years ago in summer, and frequented an ornamented piece of ground, 

 which joins to my garden, for some weeks. They used to march about in 

 a .stately manner, feeding in the walks many times a day, and seemed dis- 

 posed to breed, but were frightened and persecuted by idle boys, who would 

 never let them be at rest. Colonel Montagu mentions a pair that began a nest 

 in Hampshire, and Dr. Latham records a young Hoopoe shot in the month 

 of June. One specimen was shot in the county of Dublin, and another in 

 the county of Tipperary, in 1828. The species is abundantly met with in the 

 south of Europe; it also occurs in Holland, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. 

 In the winter it retires to Asia and Africa, where it is also a permanent 

 resident."* Two notices of this bird occurred in "The Naturalist" last year, 

 in one of which the nest is said to have been discovered. 



On the 29th. of April, I first hoard the Cuckoo, {Cuculus canonis,) and 

 who has not experienced a thrill of delight when its well-known sound first 

 falls on the ear in spring. — 



'Hail beauteous stranger of the wood, 



Attendant on the spring! 

 Now heaven repairs thy rural scat, 



Aud woods thy welcome sing. 

 Soon as the daisy decks the green, 



Thy certain voice we hear; 

 Hast thou a star to guide thy path 



Or mark the rolling year? 



Delightful visitant! with thee 



I hail the time of flowers, 

 When heaven is filled with music sweet, 



Of birds among the bowers. 

 The school-boy wandering in the wood. 



To pull the flowers so gay. 

 Starts thy curious voice to hear. 



And imitates thy lay." 



During the month of April a profusion of wild flowers appeared in this 

 quarter, many of them much earlier than usual. The fields were unusually 

 bright and perfumed with the yellow flowers of the furze, (Ulex Europoeus,) 

 "unheeded by those who can delight only in the flower brought from afar, 

 it is ever an object of admiration to the lover of simple beauty. Linna;us 

 fell on his knees, and thanked God for its loveliness, when first he beheld 

 it. Among the plants of his native land, he knew not one which could equal 

 it; and he attempted in vain to introduce it into Sweden."f 



By thinking of these and other objects of nature, our rural rambles become 

 full of enjoyment and interest. '^Few of us, perhaps in reviewing our by-gone 

 days, could the hours return again, but would wish many of them differently 

 disposed of, and more profitably employed: but I gratefully say that portion 

 of my own passed in the contemplation of the works of nature, is the part 

 which I most approve — which has been most conducive to my happiness; and 

 perhaps, from the sensations excited by the wisdom and benevolence perceived, 

 not wholly unprofitable to a final state ; and which might be passed again, 

 could I but obtain a clearer comprehension of the ways of infinite wisdom. If 

 in my profound ignorance I received such gratification and pleasure, what 

 would have been my enjoyment and satisfaction 'if the secrets of the Most 



• "^Vhite's Selborne." + "Wild Flowers of the Year." 



