Thistledown. 183 



its foliage, turning color, lies like crimson lace on 

 the bank. 



Even the tall thistles of the ditch have their beauty 

 the flower has a delicate tint, varying with the 

 species from mauve to purple ; the humble-bee visits 

 every thistle-bloom in his path, and there must there- 

 fore be sweetness in it. Then in the autumn issues 

 forth the floating thistledown, streaming through the 

 air and rolling like an aerial ball over the tips of the 

 bennets. Thistledown is sometimes gathered to fill 

 pillow-cases, and a pillow so filled is exquisitely 

 soft. There is not a nook or corner of the old 

 place where something interesting may not be found. 

 Even the slates on a modern addition to the home- 

 stead are each bordered with yellow lichen - perhaps 

 because they adjoin thatch, for slates do not seem 

 generally to encourage the growth of lichen. It 

 appears to prefer tiles, which therefore sooner as- 

 sume an antique tint. 



To the geraniums in the bow-window the hum- 

 ming-bird moth comes now and then, hovering over 

 the scarlet petals. Out of the high elms drops a 

 huge gray moth, so exactly the color of gray lichen 

 that it might be passed for it pursued, of course, 

 as it clumsily falls, by two or more birds eager for 

 the spoil. It is feast-time with them when the cock- 

 chafers come : they leave nothing but wing-cases 

 scattered on the garden paths, like the shields of 

 slain men-at-arms. 



In the bright sunshine, when there is not a cloud 

 in the sky, slender beetles come forth from the cracks 

 of the earth and rufl swiftly across the paths, glitter- 

 ing green and gold, irridescent colors glistening on 



