86 By Leafy Ways. 



bindweed whose great white flowers hang like lamps 

 among the graceful sprays. Brilliant butterflies flit 

 here and there among the brambles, and yonder skims 

 along on rustling wings that deadly foe of theirs the 

 dragon-fly, brave with burnished mail. 



Among the thickets cling the torn and empty nests 

 from which long since the eager broods took wing. 

 Not all are yet abandoned ; there are still unfledged 

 nestlings clamouring for food. But the world is 

 peopled with the new generation ; young robins with 

 breasts spotted like thrushes, and betraying their real 

 parentage by their speech and attitudes alone ; gold- 

 finches, too, resembling their brilliant parents only in 

 the yellow of their wings ; 



4 Linnet and meadow-lark and all the throng 

 That dwell in nests and have the gift of song.' 



Under the bank among the broad fronds of harts- 

 tongue shine the bright berries of the arum. The 

 hazel boughs are heavy with rich brown clusters. 

 The dogwood and the wayfaring tree are beginning 

 to show their bold autumnal tints. The mountain- 

 ash is fully in its prime, hung all over with bright 

 scarlet bunches welcome feast to noisy missel-thrush 

 and wandering ouzel. 



- There is an orchard hard by, a wilderness of 

 neglected trees, whose sour fruit just shows a tinge 

 of yellow. It is the very sanctuary of birds. Here 

 the jay hides her nest ; here the woodpecker finds, 

 year by year, the solitude he loves. 



