2/0 A YEAR WITH NATURE. 



compliments of the season. The rugged and rough old farm 

 hand who may be ditching or hedging stops as we pass him 

 to raise his hand to his forehead and wish us a Merry 

 Christmas and Bright New Year. When one rambles along 

 the country side these little episodes "are very pleasing and 

 well timed, they give an outsider an excellent insight into the 

 manners and customs of our land, and these little chats by the 

 wayside are looked for and encouraged by the keen observer, 

 who is never happy unless he is out and about. 



Early in April it is my invariable custom to seek for some 

 tiller of the soil to ask for the latest information as to the 

 Cuckoo or some other Summer visitor ; in December I ask the 

 more seasonable question as to whether the Fieldfares or the 

 Redwings are very plentiful this Winter; whether that flock of 

 Snow Buntings that visited the district last year have again 

 made their appearance; whether those flocks of Geese have 

 been seen or heard lately, and so on. And, moreover, 

 these old country rustics are very intelligent fellows on matters 

 Ornithological, they remember such and such a rare bird 

 visiting the district during the terrible Winter of so many 

 years ago; they remember that it was in such a year the 

 locality was visited by a large flock of Crossbills, one or 

 two Little Auks and other sea birds although we may be 

 far inland. 



A sharp, brisk walk in December with the hard frozen ground 

 as clean as a well scrubbed kitchen table - is delightful. The 

 birds are very tame, and one is enabled to get a much closer 

 inspection of all living creatures, if we except the wary Fox, 

 but even he in hard weather suffers the observer to get to 

 rather close quarters. 



Towards the middle of the month we pass along the country 

 road, and meet people carrying huge bundles of Holly, Ivy, 

 Laurels and other Evergreens for decorative purposes. We 

 visit the Parish Church, or the Village Schoolroom, and observe 

 that Christmas decorations are well in hand. The Squire's wife 

 is there and the Vicar's daughter, the Schoolmistress, and Miss 

 So and So from the Manse. How busy they are and how 

 deft is their handiwork 1 If the Winter is severe we notice 

 that the birds keep pretty close together for warmth, but cold 



