i88 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



the long-run. It absolves one ever afterward from 

 the need of zig-zagging over many a mile in search 

 of what he wants. One does not know birds who 

 can repeat their names when they light on the 

 fence ; but only he who can tell them at half a 

 mile away, by their flight and a thousand name- 

 less traits, marking them off from the rest. 



A little pure loitering even, such as a full-length 

 stretch at midday under the black shadow of the 

 pine wood, with a run of water and an ample 

 supply of berries within reach ; or a change of 

 occupation, such as a twilight cast in the stream, 

 has its uses in freshening both body and mind. 

 Jaded energies do not profit much. 



Fishing a pool lying in an elbow of the channel, 

 where the largest trout are known to be, I find 

 myself breast-high amid the tall purple heads of 

 the melancholy thistle. This is perhaps about the 

 highest reach of the most nearly sub-alpine of the 

 thistles. 



The side-burns I cross at intervals, in passing 

 down the banks, have their edges touched with the 

 showy purple of the livelong. This sedum is 

 common enough all the way downward to the 

 plain. Immediately overhead, it gives place to the 

 yellow-flowered rose-root, which in its turn reaches 



