JUNE. 137 



a Brimstone or Orange-tip Butterfly. If there was no cold we should 

 not appreciate the heat. If there were no dry seasons, we should not 

 welcome the refreshing rains, and I might enlarge. This all evolves 

 because of the Starlings having come to my little plot again after some 

 three or four month's absence. 



There is a sweet-voiced Nightingale singing every night now 

 within a stone's throw of my house. Singing when all is still, the bird 

 seems to be the only living creature astir, save for a passing Barn 

 Owl, or the " cock-up " of a startled Pheasant away in the woods to 

 the North and East of us. Choosing the night, as well as the day, for 

 exercising his vocal powers has made the reputation the Nightingale 

 enjoys as a song bird ; but in my wanderings about I often meet those 

 who, on hearing the bird for the first time, are much disappointed. 

 At the same time, there is something so captivating about its song 

 which one cannot express in words. It seems as if the bird in singing 

 directly at the listener, and there comes over the surrondings such a 

 sweet loneliness that one cannot be other than awe-stricken when 

 participating in such a delightful feast. And to think that such 

 marvellous music can be played by such a tiny feathered musician, 

 and such a plain-clad bird 1 Philomel has no rainbow tints, no 

 metallic hues like the glittering Kingfisher, no speckled breast like 

 the snail-loving Thrush. Nature has it that a brick-dust red plumage 

 is sufficient for the sweet-voiced Nightingale, and, often mistaken for 

 a Sparrow, only the Ornithologist knows the bird when its melodies 

 are not being poured forth in all their richness and cadence. It was 

 "jugging" away after 11 p.m. to-night. 



3rd. Beautiful day, brilliant sunshine, nice breezes. It is leafy 

 June now, and the country will never look better than at present 



Several new familiar wild flowers are rapidly coming into 

 bloom, and my list today includes the under-mentioned : Garlic 

 Mustard (going off very much now), Hedge Parsley, Dandelion, 

 Sainfoin (what a picture indeed the whole fields of this pretty plant, 

 which serves a double purpose, i.e., an ornament to the country side, 

 and food for the cattle), Charlock, Goosegrass, Hop Trefoil, Groundsel 

 (rapidly going off flower), Heartsease, Shepherd's Needle, Germander 

 Speedwell, Thyme-leaved Veronica, Chickweed, White Dead Nettle, 

 Hawthorn, Forget-me-not (this must not be confounded with the Field 

 Scorpion Grass, a smaller and not nearly so bright-coloured wild 

 flower), Greater Stitchwort, Herb Robert (are not the stalks and leaves 

 of this latter a beautiful red at times?), Common Avens, Bush Vetch, 

 Wild Strawberry, Lamb's Tongue, Woodruff (place some of this in 



