ii2 A Midland Village: Garden and Meadow. 



removed, it fails to perceive the lesser differ- 

 ences of height. This fact is an excellent 

 illustration of the abnormal condition of things 

 in the Alps, affecting the life both of the plants 

 and animals which inhabit them ; and it also 

 shows us how very slight are the differences 

 of elevation in most parts of our own island. In 

 ordinary weather, the temperature does not greatly 

 differ in an English valley and on an English 

 ridge of hill, and the question whether their fauna 

 and flora vary, is one rather of soil than of 

 temperature. Still, there are manifest differences 

 to be observed as we proceed from river-valleys 

 to rising wooded ground, and from this again to 

 a bare hill-side ; and it may be interesting, after 

 our walk in the Alps, to note the bird-life of an 

 English rural district which is provided with all 

 three, recalling dimly and perhaps fancifully the 

 three regions of the Alpine world. 



The traveller by railway from Oxford to 

 Worcester leaves the broad meadows of the 

 I sis about three miles above Oxford, and after 

 crossing a spur of higher land, strikes the little 

 river Evenlode at Handborough Station, not far 



