SUMMER DA YS. 85 



merrily progresses until the gloom of night settles round 

 the trees. Now the Goatsuckers come out of their 

 hiding-places in the bracken, and beat up and down 

 under the elm trees where the big white moths are flit- 

 ting among the grass bents ; and the Owls call loudly 

 from the woods as they set out on their nightly wander- 

 ings in quest of mice. As the darkness deepens 

 strange sounds increase. The grass and herbage 

 under foot, the brambles and briars, the hedges and the 

 ditches seem full of living creatures. Field mice dart 

 quickly through the grass and hide under the withered 

 leaves ; moles and hedgehogs venture from their cover 

 into the open fields. The shy and wary creatures of the 

 woods and hedges now hold their carnival in the dark- 

 ness. Occasionally a restless Sedge Warbler or even a 

 wakeful Robin help the Nightingales in their melodious 

 song. All night long interesting little sights may be 

 observed by him whose senses of hearing and seeing have 

 been duly trained to the delightful study of wild life at 

 home ; for the summer nights are as beautiful and 

 bewitching to the naturalist as the days which precede 

 and follow them. 



