the end of winter, this plant becomes stripped of its 

 feathery seeds, which is accomplished by mice, I 

 believe the harvest and the long-tailed one (inus 

 sylvaticus) principally ; with these they form nest- 

 like beds in the upper and thickest part of the 

 hedge, resorting to them in the daytime, where they 

 enjoy in tolerable safety the air and warmth of the 

 season, in preference to their cold and damp apart- 

 ments in the earth, and I have occasionally dis- 

 turbed them in their dormitories ; but at this time it 

 is not observed that the seeds are much fed upon 

 by them, and probably are only collected as shelter 

 in a temporary dwelling. 



The little excursions of the naturalist, from habit 

 and from acquirement, become a scene of constant 

 observation and remark. The insect that crawls, 

 the note of the bird, the plant that flowers, or the 

 vernal green leaf that peeps out, engages his atten- 

 tion, is recognised as an intimate, or noted from 

 some novelty that it presents in sound or aspect. 

 Every season has its peculiar product, and is pleas- 

 ing or admirable, from causes that variously affect 

 our different temperaments or dispositions ; but 

 there are accompaniments in an autumnal morning's 

 woodland walk, that call for all our notice and ad- 

 miration : the peculiar feeling of the air, and the 

 solemn grandeur of the scene around us, dispose 

 the mind to contemplation and remark ; there is a 

 silence in which we hear every thing, a beauty that 

 will be observed. The stump of an old oak is a 

 very landscape, with rugged alpine steeps bursting 



