212 THE OPEN AIR. 



die away, but lie as it were on the surface waiting. 

 Here the strong teazle will presently stand high; 

 here the ground-ivy will dot the mound with bluish - 

 purple. But it will be necessary to walk slowly 

 to find the ground-ivy flowers under the cover 

 of the briers. These bushes will be a likely place 

 for a blackbird's nest ; this thick close hawthorn 

 for a bullfinch ; these bramble thickets-with remnants 

 of old nettle stalks will be frequented by the white- 

 throat after a while. The hedge is now but a lattice- 

 work which will before long be hung with green. 

 Now it can be seen through, and now is the time 

 to arrange for future discovery. In May everything 

 will be hidden, and unless the most promising places 

 are selected beforehand, it will not be easy to search 

 them out. The broad ditch will be arched over, 

 the plants rising on the mound will meet the green 

 boughs drooping, and all- the vacancy will be filled. 

 But having observed the spot in winter you can 

 almost make certain of success in spring. 



It is this previous knowledge which invests those 

 who are always on the spot, those who work much 

 in the fields or have the care of woods, with their 

 apparent prescience. They lead the new comer to 

 a hedge, or the corner of a copse, or a bend of the 

 brook, announcing beforehand that they feel assured 

 something will be found there; and so it is. This, 

 too, is one reason why a fixed observer usually sees 

 more than one who rambles a great deal and covers 

 ten times the space. The fixed observer who hardly 

 goes a mile from home is like the man who sits still 

 by the edge of a crowd, and by-and-by his lost 



