NIGHTINGALE ROAD 



THE wayside is open to all, and that which it afford, 

 may be enjoyed without fee ; therefore it is that I return 

 to it so often. It is a fact that common hedgerows 

 often yield more of general interest than the innermost 

 recesses of carefully guarded preserves, which by day 

 are frequently still, silent, and denuded of everything, 

 even of game ; nor can flowers flourish in such thick 



j shade, nor where fir-needles cover the ground. 



By the same wayside of which I have already spoken 



j there is a birch copse, through which runs a road open 

 to foot passengers, but not to wheel traffic, and also a 

 second footpath. From these a little observation will 

 show that almost all the life and interest of the copse is 

 at, or near, the edge, and can be readily seen without 

 trespassing a single yard. Sometimes, when it is quiet 



I in the evening and the main highway is comparatively 

 deserted, a hare comes stealing down the track through 

 the copse, and after lingering there awhile crosses the 

 highway into the stubble on the other side. 



In one of these fields, just opposite the copse, a covey 

 of partridges had their rendezvous, and I watched them 

 from the road, evening after evening, issue one by one, 

 calling as they appeared from a breadth of mangolds. 

 Their sleeping-place seemed to be about a hundred yards 

 from the wayside. Another arable field just opposite is 

 bounded by the road with iron wire or railing, instead of 



3s 



