55 



A GLANCE AT THE FEATHERED RESIDENTS IN, AND VISITANTS 



TO, THE GROUNDS OF TERRICK HOUSE; 



WITH A FEW REMARKS FROM PERSONAL OBSERVATION, 



UPON THEIR HABITS AND PECULIARITIES. 



BY STEPHEN STONE, ESQ. 



(Continued from page 28.^ 



In the delightful weather we had in the month of March last, particularly 

 about the time of the full moon, when the nights were almost as bright and 

 beautiful as the days ; a period which all who seek the genuine and never- 

 cloying pleasui'es Nature incessantly yields ; who know how to appreciate 

 and admire the ever-varying beauties she at all seasons discloses; and who, 

 in the calm enjoyment of these beauties, pursue " the noiseless tenour of 

 tlieirway," remote from cities black with smoke, and blacker still with crime; 

 must undoubtedly remember ; I several times, during an occasional moon- 

 light ramble, heard the notes of the Hedge- Warbler warbled forth between 

 eleven and twelve o'clock at night. Sweet as is the song when heard on ordi- 

 nary occasions, it fell with ten-fold sweetness on the ear at this unusual hour; 

 breaking, in a delightful manner, the "solemn stillness" which reigned 

 around ; lending an additional charm to a scene which before was indescriba- 

 bly lovely ; and creating a thrill of the most exquisite pleasui-e, a pleasure 

 which it is the peculiar privilege of the lover of Nature to enjoy. Oh ! who 

 would waste his existence in midnight revels ; ruin his health, and wear his 

 life away amid the smoke, and dust, and din of towns; when, 

 " Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife," 



he might obtain infinitely purer joys and more substantial delights than are 

 to be found in the gay saloons of the wealthy and fashionable, or in the 

 haunts of dissipation ? Who that might breathe the pure, fresh, health giving, 

 invigorating air of mountain, hill, or valley, would choose i-ather to inhale 

 the noxious vapours and poisonous exhalations arising from city sewei's, 

 and drains ? Who that has tasted the refined and elevating pleasures the 

 love of nature yields, would Avish to return to those gross and debasing grati- 

 fications in which the voluptuary is prone to indulge. 

 To these birds may, with truth, be applied the line, — 



" Tlieir sober wishes never learnt to stray ; " 



few being of more stay-at-home habits than they. 'Mid summer's heat and 

 winter's cold, as well as throughout the more temperate seasons of spring 

 and autumn, they are constant frequenters of one chosen neighboui-hood. If 

 they indulge themselves in periodical changes at all, they are almost as 

 limited in extent as those of that model of a countiy parson, Dr. Primrose, 



