HARVEST AND GLEANING TIME 157 



"sleepmouse " (dormouse) prospecting indus- 

 triously, but not for nuts, which he knows 

 are not yet ready for him ; he is on the hunt 

 for some beetle, grub, or fly that will suit his 

 fancy. Most creatures that fly and crawl in 

 the daytime are now resting on the twigs or 

 under the leaves. The dark -eyed, fawn- 

 coloured, bushy -tailed sleepmouse hunts for 

 them, and when he has made a capture, holds 

 them in his delicate forehands to eat. Seen 

 thus he looks a miniature marmozet. Quietly 

 as you may have walked along, the blackbird 

 has both heard and seen you, and now gives 

 proof that, not without reason, has he been 

 called the bellman of the woods. Loud and 

 clear ring out his notes of alarm as he leaves 

 the hedge and dashes away. From the cool, 

 green after-growth of the meadows listening 

 ears are cocked up, followed by heads. They 

 belong to old and young rabbits out at feed. 

 Finding that nothing comes after the bellman's 

 riot to do them harm, the ears vanish. It is, 

 however, very probable that one or two of those 

 young, inexperienced drummers will not rest 

 in their burrows to-night. A pair of brown 

 owls are on the wing, and a nice little rabbit 

 dotting here and scattering there is a tempta- 



