AN ARCADIAN CALENDAR 



THE pied wagtail's nickname, Peggy Dishwasher, has 

 puzzled many wise heads. " Wagtail " is 

 A also a curiosity of a name, since the restless 



Diffident tail rarely " wags," but for ever flicks up 

 Minstrel and down. And this charming sprite of a 

 bird has been labelled with a puzzling 

 scientific name, " lugubris "; possibly an ill-conceived 

 reproach for lacking in the whites or the canary-yellows 

 of other wagtails ; or perhaps because Peggy's mate is a 

 most diffident minstrel. He sings one song while the 

 chaffinch sings a thousand. But when he does oblige, 

 his voice is a low, pleasant warble. 



LARKS' nests are marvellous for the art and ingenuity 

 with which they are hidden and made 

 The Larks' secure from the feet of cattle. The cunning 

 Treasury lark chooses a cup-like depression, and 

 therein so weaves, felts, and presses down 

 her nest of grass that its top edges are flush to the 

 ground's surface; it looks exactly as if some heavy 

 roller had run over it, to make it perfectly fit the cup. 

 Larks are timid, but the nestlings show a bold spirit, 

 pertly standing high on their legs, like gamebirds, if 

 alarmed. 



ATTAR OF HAY 



ALL the countryside is fragrant with the aroma of hay, 

 but even more fragrant is what an old-time 



Honey- poet called the " bounteous smell " of such 



suckle a bower of honeysuckle as is commonly 



found festooning thatched cottages, and 



looking in at their latticed windows. Here the honey- 



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