WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 317 



in the hedges for acorns. October 13, a dragon-fly, 

 large and green, hawking to and fro on the sunny 

 side of hedge. October 15, the first redwing. During 

 latter part of September and beginning of October, 

 frogs croaking in the ivy. 



Now, these dates would vary greatly in different 

 localities, but they show, clearer than a mere assertion, 

 that about that time there is a movement in nature. 

 The croaking of frogs, the singing of larks and thrushes, 

 are distinctly suggestive of spring (the weather, too, 

 was warm and showery, with intervals of bright sun- 

 shine) ; the grasshopper and dragon-fly were charac- 

 teristic of summer, and there were a few swallows 

 still flying about ; the pheasants and the acorns and 

 the puff balls, full of minute powder rising in clouds 

 if struck, spoke of autumn ; and, finally, the first red- 

 wing indicated winter ; so that all the seasons were 

 represented together in about the space of a fort- 

 night. I do not know any other period of the year 

 which exhibits so remarkable an assemblage of the 

 representative features of the four quarters ; an 

 artist might design an emblematic study upon it, say 

 for a tesselated pavement. 



In the early summer the lime-trees flower, and are 

 then visited by busy swarms of bees, causing a hum 

 in the air overhead. So, in like manner, on October 16, 

 I passed under an old oak almost hidden by ivy, and 

 paused to listen to the loud hum made by the insects 

 that came to the ivy blossom. They were principally 

 bees, wasps, large black flies, and tiny gnats. Sud- 



