WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 219 



paws ; his back is turned, so that he does not notice 

 any one. 



Along the banks evidence may be found of attempts 

 at boring holes, abandoned after a few inches of 

 progress had been made : sometimes a root, or a stone 

 perhaps, interferes ; sometimes, and apparently more 

 often, caprice seems the only cause why the tunnel 

 was discontinued. The grass in this corner is sweeter 

 to their taste than elsewhere : their runs are every- 

 where crossing and winding about. 



In the evening, as the shadows deepen and a hush 

 falls upon the meads, they come out and chase and 

 romp with each other. When a couple are at play 

 one will rush ten or a dozen yards away and begin 

 to nibble as if totally unconscious of the other. The 

 second meanwhile nibbles too, but all the while 

 stealthily moves forward, not direct, but sideways, 

 towards the first, demurely feeding. Suddenly the 

 second makes a spring ; the first, who has been watch- 

 ing out of the corners of his eye all the time, is off 

 like the wind. Or sometimes he will turn and face 

 the other, and jump clean over, a foot high. Some' 

 times both leap up together in the exuberance of their 

 mirth. 



By the trunk of a mighty oak, growing out of the 

 hedge that runs along the top of the field, the brambles 

 and underwood are thinner, as is generally the case 

 close under a tree ; and it is easy to push through 

 just there. On the other side, a huge root covered 

 with deep green moss affords a pleasant' seat,, leaning 



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