1 4 Summer Studies of Birds and Books CHAP. 



I have found their fortresses in what at first looked 

 a perilous spot, in the flat ground close to a stream ; 

 but never in any place constantly liable to flood. 

 And here, where we stand now, looking down on the 

 little green valley with its brook, I can clearly dis- 

 tinguish the parts where the water is apt to lie for a 

 day or two in wet weather, by the entire absence of 

 mole-heaps. 



And now the sun is behind the hill, and we will 

 turn homewards by the path that skirts this ploughed 

 field, whose freshly-harrowed surface shows red lights 

 and shadows in the sunset, reminding me of the coat 

 of a little red Devonshire cow. The deeps and 

 hollows in that almost furry coat have a way of 

 treating the sunshine which was a constant pleasure 

 to me when staying at an Exmoor farmhouse ; and 

 here is the same rough broken surface, changed from 

 brown to various reds by the sunset behind me. 

 Still more magical is the work of the sunset on the 

 blue smoke that is now rising in every direction from 

 the allotments, when the labourers are setting fire to 

 the heaps of weeds they have been collecting. It 

 drifts quietly away with the evening breeze, and 

 spreads over the whole land ; and then, as the sun 

 sets, a wonderful transformation scene takes place. 

 All outlines lose their clearness; all strong colours 

 become subdued ; all objects are seen through a soft 

 veil of pale violet, which clothes the whole country- 



