44 1(AfMBLES OF A VOSVLINIS 



knowing that no disturbing footsteps follow that head- 

 long rush. 



Here in the shade of lichen-covered boughs, glowing with 

 the flush of crimson apple bloom, you may watch at will 

 the tenants of these " orchard lawns and bowery hollows." 



Here, in the very morning of the year, the missel 

 thrush came to build her great nest. There was not a 

 leaf to hide it, but so well did the builder match with 

 the scraps of lichen that she wove into the fabric the 

 grey and shaggy bark of the old tree itself, that it may 

 have escaped altogether the keen eyes of the village 

 bird's-nester. Later in the season a whole tribe of little 

 architects found quarters in cosy crannies in the trees. 

 Here the nuthatch barricaded her doorway with a wall 

 of mud, and there the blue tit cut the wood away to 

 make himself an easier entrance. Here in the bright 

 May morning rang the woodpecker's light-hearted 

 laughter. Here all day the chaffinch sang, while his 

 sober-tinted mate sat brooding on her eggs in that 

 exquisite lichen-coated nest of hers, at the end of a 

 drooping bough. But the flycatcher is the genius of the 

 spot. , She is a singularly silent bird, of quiet, incon- 

 spicuous plumage. But there is a charm about her 

 graceful ways and dexterous movements that wins for 

 her a warm corner in the naturalist's regard. 



At daybreak, when shadows were long upon the dewy 

 grass, all the valley was astir with life and music. Now 

 there is a lull. Now when the sun of noon looks down 

 into the hollow, there is more of silence in the trees and 

 hedge-rows. 



