A Book on Birds 



with spring beauties and Quaker ladies and 

 white violets; the great, tall trees (beeches, 

 oaks, locusts, and sycamores) have gentle 

 breezes in them that make beautiful play 

 with the sunlight on the leaves; and the 

 slope of the banks beneath goes straight 

 down to the purhng water and the quiet 

 stone arch through which it flows. 



Out be3^ond the trees there is a great 

 meadow, well shut in; and here the grass 

 is thick with buttercups and daisies and 

 more Quaker ladies, beside many patches 

 of the Star of Bethlehem, in its pure and 

 lovely garb of green and white. The 

 meadow is intersected by a tumbling wall, 

 with a line of half-dead willows running 

 through it; and the hills on the far side rise 

 sharply and are well covered with other 

 ancient trees, under which the perfume of 

 sweet cicely ascends everywhere, like 

 subtile incense through the overhanging 

 branches; and the May apple, with its 

 bloom in hiding, spreads like a deep, 

 broad carpet; and the yellow of the wild 

 mustard and the pale purple of the cranes- 



[96] 



