INVOCATION 151 



four pairs this year the first pair, which 

 arrived on the last day of March, was taken 

 by the peregrine falcons. Swifts and house- 

 martins are not scarce, but they keep to 

 the inland villages. 



The prolonged drought seems to have 

 brought to life several rare butterflies, but 

 even the interest that one may find in these 

 is small. Even the blue sky and the 

 blue sea produce an intolerable weariness. 

 Wherever I go there sound those pitiful 

 cries of the sheep; there is the slippery 

 grass, and the glare of the sun on the sward. 

 The wheat is yellow in the flag, dried and 

 rustling ; the poppies are sickly, though 

 usually the fiercer the sun the more sultry 

 their bloom. 



A brook runs through sandhills on the 

 other side of the headland, and at one 

 place the red cattle stand in cool water to 

 their dewlaps, gazing tranquilly about them. 

 Here is the great meeting place of the birds, 

 and at any time of the day, from dawn 



L.S. I 



