40 NATUttE NEAR LONDON. 



NIGHTINGALE ROAD. 



THE wayside is open to all, and that which it affords 

 may be enjoyed without fee ; therefore it is that I 

 return to it so often. It is a fact that common hedge- 

 rows often yield more of general interest than the 

 innermost recesses of carefully guarded preserves, 

 which by day are frequently still, silent, and denuded 

 of everything, even of game ; nor can flowers flourish 

 in such thick shade, nor where fir-needles cover the 

 ground. 



By the same wayside of which I have already spoken 

 there is a birch copse, through which runs a road open 

 to foot passengers, but not to wheel traffic, and also a 

 second footpath. From these a little observation will 

 show that almost all the life and interest of the copse 

 is at, or near, the edge, and can be readily seen with- 

 out trespassing a single yard. Sometimes, when it is 

 quiet in the evening and the main highway is com- 

 paratively deserted, a hare comes stealing down the 

 track through the copse and after lingering there 

 awhile crosses the highway into the stubble on the 

 other side. 



In one of these fields, just opposite the copse, a 

 covey of partridges had their rendezvous, and I 



