NATURE IN JUNE. I. 137 



cool, sweet breath of early morn and the scented hedgerows. 

 How lovely the hedges, and the solitary snow-white bush in the 

 centre of a green meadow! Twittering and fluttering over the 

 topmost twigs of this sunlit hedgerow the Blackcap appears. I 

 venture to think the most ignorant or casual observer could not 

 mistake this bird as one resident in our Country the whole year 

 through. With the ashy-grey underparts, the slightly darker 

 back, and the black cap from which it derives its name, it flits 

 about in a playful skirmish, pouring out its joyous melodies, 

 which some Naturalists consider superior to the Nightingale. 



An illustration of the nest and eggs of the Hawfinch has 

 already been given, but Mr. Webster has presented us with a 

 very life-like study of the parent birds, a young fledgling and 

 four eggs. One of the parent birds is in the act of feeding 

 its first hatched fledgling with a fine fat grub or insect of some 

 description. 



All along the banks and ditches, the Greater and Lesser 

 Stitchworts are still in their beauty, whilst the foliage of the 

 now drooping Anemones pleasingly contrasts with the fading 

 mass of Wild Hyacinths. Even the pale Primroses have not 

 yet all bid us adieu, and Cowslips abound in the copses and 

 on the sloping railway banks ; whilst Oxeye Daisies are making 

 very rapid headway. In one way I often feel pleased to hear 

 of a railway extension, for the reason that the well kept hawthorn 

 hedges which form the boundaries on either side, are excellent 

 sanctuaries for our wild birds to build in and bring up their 

 fledglings unmolested and undisturbed. 



On the hillside the green pastures are be-jewelled with Dai- 

 sies, like bright stars in a verdant firmament. What highly 

 prized flowers these latter would be were they not so plentiful 1 

 Then there is the Speedwell, pretty little blue flowers whose 

 petals are a study worthy of an artist's brush: or the Hearts- 

 ease in the corn-field, with its wonderful colourings by the 

 Master Painter. Not far from this spot we may have the 

 good fortune to find the nest of that scorner of the ground, 

 the Skylark. A very difficult nest to find, and one can be very 

 easily lured away by the bird. Three or four dark eggs about 

 the size of a House Sparrow's lie in the cup, whilst they are 

 sometimes placed in the footprint of a horse or cow. 



