MAY. 127 



27th. Summer-like weather to-day, tempered with gentle breezes. 

 The Rooks were up long before me this morning, and when I looked 

 out of my bedroom window they were dibbing in a cornfield in front 

 of my house. They were not touching the Corn (and it is, of course, 

 well up, now), but were undoubtedly after the Wireworm. Half-a- 

 dozen or so were also there at 8 p.m., searching as hard as ever. 

 They strutted along in real marshalled order, "doing" the ground 

 properly, and well. The first bird- sounds which broke upon my ear 

 this quiet Sabbath morning (mornings which give to this fair land of 

 ours a beauty almost Divine), were the cry of the Cuckoo, the ever- 

 welcome lay of the Skylark, and the crow of some gay chanticleer a 

 few gardens off. 



Incidentally, I may remark how the reddish head of the Common 

 Partridge, and the fine red of the Hare, show up when bird, and 

 animal, are studied through a good pair of glasses. What looks to 

 the naked eye like a mere clod of earth turns out to be a Hare, and 

 suddenly one may observe just over the tops of the standing grass 

 the red head of the Partridge. Cannot the latter move at a tremendous 

 rate, and with eyes and ears alert the whole time? Stopping, ever 

 and anon, to take stock of the surroundings. 



Flowers found in bloom to-day include the following, several of 

 which it will be noticed are new to our lists: Groundsel, Shepherd's 

 Purse, Dandelion (fast blowing off now to seed), Chickweed, Charlock, 

 Thyme-leaved Veronica, Yellow Rocket (going off slightly), Scentless 

 Mayweed, Hop Trefoil (in its beauty now), Hawthorn (not yet the 

 white mass which will soon be out), White, Red, and Yellow Dead 

 Nettles, Goosegrass, Garlic Mustard (has nearly run its course in 

 many specimens), Shepherd's Needle (the needles very prominent 

 now), Pink and White Campions, Dove's-foot Crane's Bill, Bulbous 

 Crowfoot, Upright Meadow Crowfoot, Germander Speedwell (this 

 beautiful blue flower is at its height now), Meadow Saxifrage (locally 

 known as Milkmaids), Long-rooted Cat's Ear, Daisy, Goat's Beard, 

 Red Clover, Common Fumitory, Marsh Marigold, Cuckoo Flower, 

 Brook lime (this is a very beautiful species of Speedwell, and grows 

 for the most part in marshy situations), Ground Ivy, Bugle, Greater 

 Stitchwort, Common and Bush Vetches (of the two the flower of the 

 former is much brighter and does not grow in a cluster like the 

 Tufted Vetch), Herb Robert, Holly, Wild Hyacinth, Lamb's Tongue, 

 Corn Crowfoot, Hedge Mustard, Blue Sherardia. Heartsease, Forger 

 me-not, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Strawberry-leaved Potentil, Wild Straw- 

 berry, Woodruff, Dog Violet, Primrose (about the last time it will be 



