CONTENTS ix 



APRIL II 



THE HOMECOMERS 



PAGE 



Not foreigners Stay-at-homes and wanderers The 

 winter-moping, sky-ascending pipit The best of the 

 wagtails Perils of migration Accident and murder- 

 Swallows' wings for ladies' hats ! Brigand Italy- 

 Massacred to make a Christian holiday The miracle of 

 the year The very same birds A successful roll-call . 85 



MAY I 



SNAKES 



A tangle of snakes Defiance at the ford An accom- 

 plished swimmer The Lily Wood The grass snake's 

 defence And means of escape Its furious bluff Snake's 

 eggs A viper The child and the viper Smooth snake 

 and slow-worm ........ 97 



MAY II 



WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS YOUNG 

 The teeming jungle Shamming dead Hooded crows 

 The young turkeys The blood of caterpillars Voles 

 and owls The hamster The little bunnies Weasels at 

 play Baby foxes 110 



JUNE I 



CATERPILLARS INNUMERABLE 



The bold puss Hawks and the death's head The 

 terrific lobster Caterpillar plagues A shower of buff- 

 tips Eggers The ( Lucky Farmer ' ' Buttons ' 'Sem- 

 bling The moth whose wife is a spider The marvellous 

 leaf-roller 123 



JUNE II 



IN THE HAYFIELD 



Waist-deep in flowers What the grass hides The 

 fascination of nests Idyl and reality Down the ladder 

 of toil An old man's reminiscence 135 



