SUMMER 



more precious things. Many a meadow is almost 

 iridescent, we can hardly see the grass for flowers, 

 each is in a sense a fixed sunbeam ; the butterflies 

 flit from blossom to blossom, the sunbeam is in 

 motion again. 



The Business of Animal Life 



That summer is the busiest time of year is plain 

 enough among the plants, but we see this even more 

 clearly when we watch animals. They are swayed 

 in great part by the twin impulses of Hunger and 

 Love. The twofold business of life is caring for 

 self and caring for others. There is eager endeavour 

 after individual well-being, and there is a not less 

 careful effort which secures the welfare of the young. 

 The former varies from a life and death struggle 

 at the very margin of subsistence to a gay competi- 

 tion for luxuries ; and the latter rises from necessary 

 life-losing and instinctive sacrifice to what seems 

 like affectionate devotion. We see this caring for 

 self and caring for others at an instinctive level 

 among ants, bees, wasps, and many other creatures 

 with small brains richly endowed with ready-made 

 cleverness. We see it mingled with intelligence 

 in birds and mammals, in the building of nests and 

 shelters, in the nurture of the young, and in the laying 

 up of stores for days to come. 



Summer Drowsiness 



But the intensity of life, so characteristic of 

 summer, is by no means unrelieved. Every one 

 familiar with the country has noticed that in days 



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