JUNE. 143 



parents utter : " Caws, Croos," and what not ! The nests hereabouts 

 are mostly built in Oaks. 



The outspread tail of the Lark is worth noticing as the bird 

 descends. A field-glass is necessary to see it to perfection. Many 

 Cuckoo Spit about to-day. 



Sweet-scented Vernal and many other Grasses in flower now. 



The Oak has gone off flower, as also the Ash, and the seeds of 

 the Wych Elm are quite brown. In a vVillow thicket the ground was 

 strewn with silvery catkins. Here, again, the sun rarely penetrates, 

 the ground is moist, and various Rushes grow in profusion. 



The Toadflax is making rapid progress. This flower is called 

 locally Snapdragon. The giant yellow flowers will not be out yet for 

 some weeks. 



Cuckoo and Skylark still heard at 8 p.m. 



4th. Lovely day for Whit-Monday. Brilliant sunshine. N E. winds. 



5th. Breezy, but brilliant sunshine. I have already remarked 

 in my writtings that if the observer wishes to fill his note-book he 

 should ramble by some placid stream, bordered by woods, bushes, or 

 hedgerows, or down some leafy lane. To-day I wandered for miles, 

 tearing my clothes, getting thorns all over my body, through some 

 scrubs, and saw practically nothing. Not a bird was flushed. A 

 Willow Wren now and then was to be heard, and a stray Whitethroat 

 or two flickered overhead, but otherwise all was silent. The scrubs 

 consisted of Oak for the most part, but there was a nice sprinkling of 

 thick Hawthorn and brambles, and here one would imagine nests 

 might be found. All day we rambled through the scrubs (the rays 

 of the sun pouring down upon us), but without success. True we 

 found about half a dozen Song Thrushes' nests, and noted that they 

 were composed externally of moss; one or two Bullfinches and 

 Hedge Sparrows, but that was the total result of our eight hours 

 search What is the reason no nests were forthcoming, and why 

 such an absence of bird life? The season was right, the weather 

 was right, the surroundings seemed right, but the birds were not. 

 Coming out into a lane we at once heard the Nightingale, the 

 Chaffinch, and saw many small birds and two pairs of Red-backed 

 Shrikes on the hedge by the railway bank. 



Striking the River Colne, where it joins the Ver, we were much 

 more entertained than we had been all day. 



