JUNE IN BHOADLAND. 59 



noticed many a young bird of the year as we came along for the first birds have 

 been started off to earn a livelihood on their own account little tits and larger 

 finches, not nearly so brightly plumaged as they hope to be next springtime, dot 

 the hedgerows, forage in the herbage below them, or fly on hasty wing hither and 

 thither. Insects are swarming, and well it is they are so, or the insectivorous birds 

 would go to roost hungry ; and the seed-eaters are now revelling in plenty. 



* * * * * o # o 



It is pleasant to glide softly on the rippling waters, scarce dipping the oars 

 beneath the surface. The hum of life and the rustle of vegetation are soothing to 



A QUIET CORNER. 



the jaded toiler; a day's outing like this is rest and balm to both body and mind. 

 Let the boat drift whither she will, we are not tied to any special ' doing ' to-day. 

 Not that we would kill time, but it is delightful to feel ourselves once more away 

 from the worry and the bustle and the conventionalities of town life, and for the 

 nonce to leave ledgers and hammers and scales and yard-sticks away in that chaos 

 of brick and mortar where even the sparrows are sooty and the flowers and trees 

 are dusty, and what little of nature is forced to breathe and grow in such uncon- 

 genial atmosphere seems pining for the purer air and sunlight of the country. 



