204 VARIABLENESS OF SEASONS. 



these birds, when perched on an eminence^ insi- 

 diously attentive to a flock of finches and yellow- 

 hammers basking in a hedge, and after due consi- 

 deration apparently single out an individual. Upon 

 its moving for its prey, some wary bird has given 

 the alarm, and most of the little troop scuttle 

 immediately into the hedge ; but the hawk holds 

 on its course, and darts upon a selected object. 

 If baffled, it seldom succeeds upon another ; and 

 so fixed are its eyes upon this one individual, that, 

 as if unobservant of its own danger, it snatches 

 up its morsel at our very sides. A pigeon on the 

 roof of the dovecot seems selected from its fellows, 

 the hawk rarely snatching at more than one terror- 

 stricken bird. The larger species of hawks appear 

 to employ no powers excepting those of wing, but 

 pursue and capture by celerity and strength. 



We converse annually upon early and late sea- 

 sons ; and such things there are. A mild winter, a 

 warm February and March, will influence greatly 

 the growth of vegetation : not that a primrose 

 under that bank, or a violet under the shelter of 

 this hedge, affords us any criterion of earliness ; 

 but a general shading of green, an expansion of 

 buds, an incipient unfolding of leaves, gives notice 

 of the spring's advance. The principal blossom- 

 ing of plants usually takes place at nearly stated 

 periods ; but particular mildness in the atmosphere, 

 and additional warmth in the soil, accelerate this 

 season ; and of all the evils which threaten the 

 horticulturist, an early spring is most to be depre- 



