156 NATURE NEAR LONDON 



done by hand. A black bryony plant grew up round it, 

 rising in a spiral. The heart-shaped leaves have dropped 

 from the bine, leaving thick bunches of red and green 

 berries clustering about the greyish stem of the oak. 



Every one must have noticed that some trees have a 

 much finer autumn tint than others. This, it will often 

 be found, is an annual occurrence, and the same elm, or 

 beech, or oak that has delighted the eye with its hues 

 this autumn, will do the same next year, and excel its 

 neighbours in colour. Oaks and beeches, perhaps, are 

 the best examples of this, as they are also the trees that 

 present the most beautiful appearance in autumn. 



There are oaks on villa lawns near London whose 

 glory of russet foliage in October or November is not to 

 be surpassed in the parks of the country. There are two 

 or three such oaks in Long Ditton. All oaks do not 

 become russet, or buff; some never take those tints. An 

 oak, for instance, not far from those just mentioned never 

 quite loses its green ; it cannot be said, indeed, to remain 

 green, but there is a trace of it somewhere ; the leaves 

 must, I suppose, be partly buff and partly green ; and 

 the mixture of these colours in bright sunshine pro- 

 duces a tint for which I know no accurate term. 



In the tops of the poplars, where most exposed, the 

 leaves stay till the last, those growing on the trunk below 

 disappearing long before those on the spire, which bends 

 to every blast. The keys of the hornbeam come twirl- 

 ing down : the hornbeam and the birch are characteristic 

 trees of the London landscape the latter reaches a great 

 height and never loses its beauty, for when devoid of 

 leaves the feathery spray-like branches only come into 

 view the more. 



The abundant bird life is again demonstrated as the 

 evening approaches. Along the hedgerows, at the corners 



