118 FLYCATCHER VAGARIES 



tion one might find with Nature in her woods 

 alone. 



Here and there the fresh green curtains 

 of the grove appear to open into lanes of al- 

 luring promise, showing vistas which might 

 lead to any wonderland. It was through 

 one of these as through a familiar highway 

 that the cuckoo on wings of silence took his 

 way, 



" For the cuckoo delights in the cool leafy shadows, 

 Where the nest and its treasures are rocked in the hreeze." 



It seemed that one had simply to follow 

 the bird to reach his hidden home. But alas ! 

 what is beautiful and every way delightful 

 to him with wings, is far different to the 

 humble plodder on foot. Pitfalls strew the 

 path ; fallen branches, deep holes where once 

 a tree had stood, and rocks that thrust them- 

 selves into the way, make it impossible. 



It was like the wily warblers to select such 

 a bit of woods for their haunts. The sun 

 touching every prominent point with light, 

 confuses things so that one could not see 

 them if there were forty warblers right before 

 him, and anyway it is no trouble for a bird 

 to hide when one leaf is ample screen. 



