Cuckoos and Swallows. 7 



In March and April the whole 

 beautiful world is astir : shrew-mice 

 poke their slender noses between 

 the young grasses ; periwinkles 

 shine, blue as the sea, upon the 

 bank among the fallen fir-needles; 

 the sound of lambs bleating, of the 

 woodman's axe in the oak-copse, 

 of the call of the plough-boy to 

 his team, come every minute. The 

 pigeons whirl and flutter in the 

 sky ; the farm do^ lies lazy at his 

 kennel door ; and the cocks and 

 heriS scuttle and clatter after pretty 

 Hannah Hatherly as she carries 

 their scoop of corn in her rosy 

 arms to that spot on the further 

 side of the pond, where neatness 

 ordains they should eat it. 



The robin and the thrush, the 

 shrew-mouse and the rest of the 

 wild things not to mention Hannah 

 and her cocks and hens have 

 known the farm all their lives. In- 

 deed, they scarcely know anything 



