Signs of Life. 



75 



music of the brook went with you to inform the silence. 

 Silent indeed it is at the present mid-day hour, with 

 only the suggestion of an underhum, whether of newly 

 awakened insects or some faint wind stirring in the 

 tops of the beeches, birches, pines and elms and oaks, 

 it would be hard to say. But you do not go far till 

 you are assured of signs of life. There a tiny rabbit, 

 with that significant white tuft of a tail,* scurries into 



THE RUSTIC BRIDGE. 



its hole ; anon a wood-pigeon, disturbed by unwonted 

 footsteps, flies high up overhead with a whirr, and 

 startles the pheasants not far off. Your entrance, 



* The reason why the point of the rabbit's tail always remains white 

 is the same as the reason why the point of the tail in some other animals, 

 such as the ermine (which changes its coat) always remains black. It is to 

 enable the young one to see its parents on a surface the same colour as 

 their fur, though no doubt other eyes than those of the young ones some- 

 times see it too, and make profit by it. 



