THE FIRST ROSE OF SUMMER 75 



before they pass this spot and alight on the 

 flowers. The air is scented with may, the perfume 

 being stronger in the evening ; this year (1899) it 

 is later than usual, and before it has all fallen, 

 leaving bunches of tiny green berries which will 

 be food for Thrushes in the autumn and winter we 

 come on the first wild rose of summer. We pluck 

 it and admire the delicate flower more than we 

 should the more rare and costly orchid, for is it 

 not a sign that the summer has really come 

 round ? 



At this time of the year, when wild roses are 

 beginning to adorn the hedges, numbers of young 

 birds will be met with in all directions. In the 

 fields Missel-Thrushes are leading their young, 

 and these keep close to their parents, eagerly 

 running to them when either finds a worm or an 

 insect. It is a pretty sight to see the old birds 

 teaching the young brood to find their own food ; 

 when anything is found it is at once pointed out, 

 and one of the young, running forward, quickly 

 devours it. I watched such a family one day for 

 a considerable time, and the parents kept on 

 discovering food while the young ate it, and during 

 the whole time their elders did not take any 

 themselves. While engaged in feeding, any one 

 of the party did not notice me standing by a 



