NATURE IN AUGUST. 



I. 



I do not altogether like an early harvest, for the reason that 

 the fields are laid bare all too soon, the rambler loses much 

 of the charm of the country, and has perforce to lose sight of 

 the waving fields of corn ; but what of the Sparrows ? They 

 have to pay their Autumn visits much earlier, and are out and 

 about in the corn-fields in July, in spite of the lines 



'When August hangs the bough with plums, 

 The dusty city Sparrow comes 

 For sojourn in the country sweet, 

 To taste the barley and the wheat. 



His cynic wit, his mocking eye, 

 The innocent country ways decry; 

 Though dews may wash his feathers clean, 

 He hath the urchin's heart within.' 



For some days now I have rambled morning and eve through 

 the shocks of corn, and noticed the Avian Rat as the venerable 

 Mr. Tegetmeier has named the House Sparrow only picks up 

 the fallen grains, and does not rob the farmer of any grain 

 which can be called robbery or pilfering. 



How different the scene now to what it was a few weeks 

 since 1 The waving, rich brown Corn, and nodding Scarlet 

 Poppies, have mostly given place to the stubble, though on 



