CHAP. vii. MIDNIGHT ROAMERS. 105 



glimmer I had was from within. It proceeded from 

 the never-ceasing craving I had for more knowledge 

 of the works of Nature. This was the only faintest 

 twinkle I had to lighten up my path, even in the 

 darkest night. And that little twinkle, together with 

 my own never-flagging perseverance, like a good and 

 earnest pilot, steered me steadily and unflinchingly 

 onward." 



Although Edward was frequently out in winter- 

 time, especially in moonlight, his principal night- work 

 occurred between spring and autumn. The stillest 

 and quietest, and usually the darkest part of the night 

 unless when the moon was up was from about an 

 hour after sunset until about an hour before sunrise. 

 Yet, during that sombre time, when not asleep, he 

 seldom failed to hear the sounds or voices, near or at 

 a distance, of midnight wanderers prowling about. In 

 the course of a few years he learnt to know all the 

 beasts and birds of the district frequented by him. 

 He knew the former by their noises and gruntings, and 

 the latter by the sound of their wings when flying. 

 When a feathered wanderer flew by, he could tell 

 its call-note at once, and often the family as well as 

 the species to which it belonged. But although he con- 

 trived to make himself acquainted with the objects of 

 many of these midnight cries and noises, others cost 

 him a great deal of time and labour, as well as some 

 dexterous manoeuvring. 



The sounds of the midnight roamers, as well as the 



