262 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



fashion of the old time, carries a bell. She comes and 

 butts one playfully, and insists on her poll being 

 rubbed. Then there is more grunting, but of a dif- 

 ferent kind this time easily recognized : it is a herd 

 of swine searching for the beech-mast and acorns. 

 With them, fortunately, comes the swineherd a lad, 

 who shows a drive which leads to the nearest edge of 

 the forest. 



Half an hour after leaving the swineherd, a rabbit 

 is found sitting on his haunches, motionless, with the 

 head drooping on one side. He takes no notice he 

 is dying. Just beneath one ear is a slight trace of 

 blood : it is the work of a weasel, who fled on hearing 

 approaching footsteps. Soon a film must form over 

 the beautiful eye of the hunted creature : let us in mercy 

 strike him a sharp blow on the head with the heavy 

 end of the walking-stick, and so spare him the pro- 

 longed sense of death. A hundred yards farther is 

 a gate, and beyond that an arable field. On coming 

 near the gate a hawk glides swiftly downwards over 

 the hedge that there joins the forest. A cloud of 

 sparrows instantly rise from the stubble, and fly chirp- 

 ing in terror to the hedge for shelter ; but one is too 

 late the hawk has him in his talons. Yonder is a row 

 of wheat ricks, the fresh straw with which they have 

 just been covered contrasting with the brown thatch 

 of the farmhouse in the hollow. There a refreshing 

 glass of ale is forthcoming, and the way is pointed out. 



