IN NATURE'S CONFIDENCE. 



life reveal themselves to the patient watcher in the 

 woods. Here is one of them I saw years ago, still 

 vividly impressed on the tablets of my memory, as well 

 as lovingly recorded in one of my note-books. It was 

 autumn, and the sturdy oak-trees were shedding their 

 russet leaves, and showers of brown acorns dropped to 

 the ground after every puff of wind. Under one of the 

 largest trees several Pheasants were picking up the fallen 

 acorns, the cock birds resplendent in their brilliant 

 plumage. With what gusto they swallowed them ! On 

 a broad horizontal limb two Ring Doves were running 

 to and fro ; a squirrel leaped down the trunk and sat 

 up on his haunches, with his bushy tail curled round his 

 back, nibbling at an acorn held between his paws. 

 Then a Magpie joined the company ; and almost 

 directly afterwards a Creeper alighted on the rough oak 

 bark. After that a rabbit jumped out of the hedge 

 and stood for a moment as if petrified at his own 

 boldness. The distant barking of a dog was a signal for 

 the dispersal of this strange assemblage. The hen 

 Pheasants crouched to the ground amongst the oak 

 leaves ; the cock birds flew with a clatter into the wood. 

 The rabbit listened intently with ears erect and head 

 drawn up, as if scenting the danger, and then his white 

 tail marked his bobbing course into a burrow under the 

 roots of the oak tree ; the Magpie, perhaps more 

 alarmed by the sudden flight of his companions than by 



