TBK BIBDS or lEBRICK HODSE. 10<1 



small clusters, hang the jet-black berries of tbe privet and tlxe blackthorn. 

 There, too, the sloe bush is seen, its every branch strung as with beads of 

 jet. The acorns on yon mighty oak are fast ripening — changing from green 

 to golden yellow, from yellow to rich brown. Some have already fallen — 

 brought down by the equinoctial gales which lately prevailed ; and upon 

 these the Pheasant, the pride and ornament of the game preserve, is feeding; 

 while, in anticipation of the fall of the rest, that light, agile, aiiy, half-flying, 

 interesting, and beautiful creature, the Squirrel, has gathered and stored up, 

 for winter use, lai'ge quantities of them. Take your stand beneath the tree 

 at nightfall, and you will find the field mouse busily employed in conveying 

 them to its retreat for the same purpose. The Rook, too, by way of change 

 of diet, feeds upon them to some extent. How beautiful looks that moun- 

 tain ash, with its bunches of showy red beri'ies ; and the foliage of that 

 beech — how x-ich, and warm, and glowing, are the tints ! how inimitable the 

 hues it displays. Its ripened fruit, too, has fallen ; and here again the 

 squirrel is feasting. Here, too, the great, the marsh, and coal Titmice are 

 revelling in the abundance of food it yields. From long distances have they 

 come — from various quarters are they here gathered together to partake of 

 this annual treat. And how amusing it is to watch their lovelj' antics ! never 

 still — ever in motion ; in constant change of attitude. Now suspended by 

 the feet from the extremity of a slender branch ; now clinging for a moment 

 to the trunk of the tree; now engaged in sportive flight; now lighting upon 

 the ground, and prying underneath the leaves in search of the fallen mast, a 

 portion of which is presently found, seized upon, and conveyed to some con- 

 venient branch, or placed in some crevice, where the bird may be seeJi 

 hammering away at it, with the utmost good will and heartiness, until the 

 kernel is reached, the strokes from its bill, given wdth great rapidity, being 

 distinctly to be heard to some distance. All is untiring activity and un- 

 disturbed enjoyment. 



A peaceful and a holy calm steals over us in the contemplation of the scene 

 before us ; there is not, perhaps, that bounding, gushing, hilarous feeling 

 the spring produces, but one fully as lich, though of a more subdued kind. 

 The thought that all these beauties are on the eve of being swejjt away ; and 

 that in the course of a few days they Avill vanish from the sight, contributes, 

 in some degree, no doubt, to check any exuberance of feeling. Let that 

 thought remind us that we too must perish ; that as the leaves fade away, so 

 shall we decay : nor can we reckon upon attaining old age, or even upon 

 growing up to manhood, ere we be removed from this earthly scene ; for as 

 the young and tender leaves are often rudely stripped, by tempestuous winds, 

 from the parent tree, even before they have become fully expanded, so may 

 we, at any age, be torn away, by " the pestilence that walketh in darkness," 

 or by " the sickness that destroyeth at noon day." May death, whenever it 

 comes, find us with lamps trimmed, and with lights burning. 



