RUSE OF A BROWN TAIL 



the act must be protection ; to be dead-still, to be 

 contained in as small a compass as possible, is the 

 best hope of escaping the notice of the creature 

 of prey. 



The Yellow Wood 



The elm is not the only tree of autumn that can 

 recall the tree of spring. A touch of the primrose 

 yellow which dyed the oaks of Sway in spring has 

 been on the distant wood of late the " primrose of 

 the later year is not unlike that of spring " whilst 

 the birch plantations have had something of the flush 

 and burn of trees just coming into tiny leaf. These 

 likenesses of its prime in the falling year are always 

 more striking when the sky is overcast, or in the 

 grey of afternoon ; and these are the hours, too, 

 when the whole colouring of autumn is seen at 

 its best. 



It is when the sun is not shining on the woods 

 that the finer shades, often mere suggestions or 

 hints, of colour are enjoyed most they disappear in 

 a strong light. These are the autumn colours and 

 shades, almost endless in variety and gradation, 

 which lie about the tops and outsides of the trees. 

 They are the complexion of the wood, as seen by a 

 watcher at a distance. 



Under and within a wood fully fired by the 

 autumn, the effects are wholly different. Here is no 

 reminder of spring ; unless it be of spring lightness 



263 



