220 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



back against the trunk. Upon the right, close by, 

 is the ash copse, with its border of thick fir trees ; 

 on the left oaks at intervals stand along the hedge ; 

 in front stretches the undulating surface of an im- 

 mense pasture field called The Warren. Like a 

 prairie it rolls gently away, dotted with hawthorn 

 bushes, here and there a crab tree, and two rows of 

 noble elms, in both of which the rooks are busy in 

 spring. Beyond, the ground rises, and the small 

 upland meadows are so thickly timbered as to look 

 like distant glades of a forest ; still farther are the 

 downs. 



Under this great oak in the stillness is a place to 

 dream in summer, looking upward into the vast 

 expanse of green boughs, is an intricate architecture, 

 an inimitable roof, whose lattice-windows are set with 

 translucent lapis lazuli, for the deep blue of the sky 

 seems to come down and rest upon it. The acorns 

 are already there, as yet all cup, and little of the 

 acorn proper showing ; there is a tiny black speck 

 on the top, and the young acorn faintly resembles 

 some of the ancient cups with covers, the black speck 

 being the knob by which the cover is lifted. After 

 the first frosts, when the acorns are browned and 

 come out of their cups from their own weight as 

 they fall and strike the ground, the lads select the 

 darkest or ripest, and eat one now and then ; they 

 half roast them, too, like chestnuts. 



In the early spring, when the night is bright and 

 clear, it is a place to stand a moment and muse awhile. 



