282 COUNTRY RAMBLES. 



bathing in the ditches. Many trees quite bare, especially the Lime. 

 A little patch of Furze in flower. Flushed many Larks and some large 

 flocks of Sparrows on waste ground in front of my house. 



28th. Bright during morning, and thermometer at Summer heat! 

 Rain towards afternoon, and very heavy in the evening. Our notes 

 now become fewer and fewer, and our " Flowers in Bloom" list will 

 soon be almost dispensed with. 



To-day's flora notes are as follows : Flowers in bloom : Scentless 

 Mayweed, Yarrow, Shepherd's Purse, Nipplewort, Autumnal Hawkbit, 

 White Dead Nettle, Sow Thistle, Groundsel, Hedge Mustard, Red 

 and White Clovers, Knot Grass, White and Yellow Charlocks, White 

 Campion, Dandelion, Long-rooted Cat's Ear, Heartsease, Red Dead 

 Nettle, Scarlet Poppy, Small Knapweed, Herb Robert, and Field 

 Scabious. 



Birds singing : Robin and Skylark. 



Birds seen or heard: House Sparrow (in large flocks, feeding 

 on obnoxious weed seeds on waste ground), Rook, Hedge Sparrow, 

 Starling (quite noisy; one rough old chap perched on the top of a 

 chimney-pot singing for all he was worth), Chaffinch, Yellow Bunting 

 (at the top of an Oak, and how his beautiful plumage harmonises 

 with the foliage and bark), Nuthatch, Fieldfare, Blackbird (one heard 

 uttering a sort of alarm-song), Great Tit, and Coal Tit. I cannot 

 understand why so few Thrushes are to be seen. During the Spring 

 and Summer the woods hereabouts echo and reverberate with sweet 

 music; just now very few indeed are to be observed. 



The various tints and colours now are exquisite; there is the copper 

 of the Beech, the golden of the Maple, the yellow, brown, and red of 

 the Hawthorn, the green of the Ash, the purple of the Blackthorn, the 

 red of the Wild Cherry, the shiny green of the Holly, the yellow and 

 green of the Oak, and the straw colour of the pliant Birch. 



Do not the scarlet Holly berries show up against the dark green 

 leaves? On a clump of Ivy we observed a Wasp and some other 

 insects. The flowers of the Ivy are not yet full open. 



Flowers in bloom in garden: Garden Mallow, Eschscholtzia, 

 French Marigold, Japanese, Anemone, Nasturtium, Pansy, Dahlia, 

 Lobelia, and Primrose. 



A Sparrow or two were flying about the garden to-day collecting 

 nesting materials. Large leaves of the Garlic Mustard very prominent 

 along the hedge banks now: it is damp underfoot; by the woods it 

 smells quite leafy, and Autumn is really here. 



