34 MARCH. 



And now, with returning spring, the country begins 

 to wear a smiling face, the young and tender buds of 

 the hawthorn, if the weather is mild, begin to show 

 themselves, ornamenting the young wood with little 

 green spots ; the birch, too, puts forth her shiny buds, 

 in which the larvae of Argyresthia Goedartella and 

 Argyresthia Brockeella live at ease, making a dainty 

 meal upon the yet unexpanded leaves, as well as under 

 its shiny bark — while in open places in the woods, 

 at the root of the forest monarch, the pretty little 

 " wind-flower" (Anemone nemorosa) opens its delicate 

 white flowers to the yet feeble beams of the sun, closing 

 them immediately if but a cloud obscures his bright- 

 ness, while on the hedge-bank, sheltered by the over- 

 hanging whitethorn, the modest violet " ope's her pale 

 blue e'e," and lower down, in the moist places on the 

 ditch side, nestled amid tufts of rushes and rank grass, 

 the primrose, " sweet harbinger of spring," puts forth 

 her attractive and beautiful yellow blossoms. 



" Welcome, pale primrose starting up between 

 Dead matted leaves of ash and oak, that strew 

 The every lawn, the wood, and shining through, 

 'Mid creeping moss and ivy's darker green ; 



How much thy presence beautifies the ground ! 

 How sweet thy modest, unaffected pride, 

 Glows on the sunny bank and wood's warm side." 



The insect world now begins to feel the effect of the 

 returning spring ; for many of those that hybernate 

 during the winter season now begin to move, and may 

 be seen flitting heavily along the hedges at dusk, or 

 busily engaged upon that " bonne bouche" the sallow 

 blossoms ; or, if the Entomologist has been sugaring, 



