102 WOODLAND, MOOR, AND STREAM 



AN AUTUMN RAMBLE IN SURREY 



' THE birds are flighting over the moor and in the 

 junipers ... I have seen some birds about very 

 much like blackbirds and near their size, only some 

 of them have a white ring round the neck and they 

 are very shy. If you can make it convenient to come, 

 get here about three in the afternoon.' 



It is not often you can see the ring-ouzel in the 

 south of England, so on receiving my friend's note 

 I set aside everything else for the day, and putting 

 note and sketch-book in my pocket, set off, ten 

 minutes later, my trusty ash stick in hand, for a good 

 eight miles swing through woodland lanes and pas- 

 tures, and along roads planted with great elm trees, 

 varied here and there by an old oak and an occa- 

 sional ash. The trees are changing from the green 

 of summer to the more brilliant colouring of autumn. 

 The distant hills, covered with beech and oak, show 

 rich reds and yellows, broken up by warm olive. 

 Nearing the moorlands the paths are broken at the 



