NATURE IN AUGUST. II. 195 



are exquisite in their tenderness and delicacy; the golden 

 Bird's Foot Trefoil on the heaths and commons mingles pleas- 

 antly with the scarlet Cuckoo flowers and a stray Poppy, another 

 fragile beauty. Grasses are abundant, too, the prettiest being 

 perhaps the Quaker Grass, which nestles beautifully in amongst 

 Daisies and Wild Thyme. 



Along the hedgerows the white and pink Blackberry blossoms 

 are seen, and the Nut-stems are laden with Nuts, now quickly 

 ripening under the bronzing rays of the brilliant sunshine. 



A Greater Whitethroat darts out from the hedgerow, and 

 curiosity leads one to search for a may-be nest, but it has long 

 since been dispensed with, and the young Warblers are rapidly 

 gaining the strength which is necessary for them to undertake 

 the journey to Southern Africa. Forget-me-nots peep out here 

 and there, and bordering all along a corn-field, Wild Dragons 

 shew up their golden and red petals most conspicuously, which 

 is enhanced by the Traveller's Joy running over the top of 

 the hedgerow. 



The hedges are strewn with straw, probably brushed off from 

 the carts carrying the sheaves to the harvest home. The 

 delicate little Herb Robert still blooms ; Pig-nuts are of the 

 same high colour, but much larger, and considerably more 

 showy, and the green bunches of keys on the Hornbeam 

 cannot fail to call forth our wonder and admiration. A nest 

 of the Bullfinch rather late it is true attracts our notice on 

 the side of an Elm tree placed in a well-developed fork 

 and a dead Blackbird tells the tale I suppose that the farmer 

 hard by has put it to death because of the depredations carried 

 on in his orchard among the luscious cherries. He probably 

 did not look at the other side of the picture the good side- 

 but shot it there and then. It was stealing a few cherries, 

 and it had to pay the penalty. 



The mention of this reminds me that birds are often re- 

 sponsible for planting fruit and other trees in most out of the 

 way and unlocked for places. People who have seen Rasp- 

 berry-canes growing in the middle of a wood have wondered 

 how they have got there, and the same with regard to Cherries, 

 Apples, Currants, and so on. The explanation probably is 

 that the seeds passing uninjured through the alimentary canal 



