108 A YEAR WITH NATURE. 



discuss the various changes which have taken place all too 

 quickly. We remember when that black wood in the distance 

 was a mere plantation, and have gradually seen those winding 

 paths made into well beaten tracks. We remember the 

 hospitable old gentleman who used to keep the farmhouse at 

 the top of the hill, and wish we could call him back again. 



A last peep into a thick Holly bush, and we are just able 

 to discern a nest full of young Hedge Sparrows. There they 

 are, five in number, all with gaping mouths waiting for another 

 fill before the mother's tender care is finished for the day, and 

 they nestle beneath her warm little breast. All this we see in 

 the lane, there is no need to go out of it, for new sights and 

 sounds crop up at every turn. 



The labourer decked out in his Sunday black with his wife 

 and children, looking the very picture of health, passes across 

 the top of the lane and wishes us a cheery ' Goodnight.' The 

 sun has now departed, the feathered race are all silent, the 

 daisies have closed their eyelids, and we leave this paradise to 

 the occupants whose life and habits have afforded us such 

 interest and pleasure. 





