136 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



berries to its evident delight. There is no doubt that some of 

 our Warblers do take soft fruits in the Autumn, but they do not 

 perpetrate much harm, and their good deeds far outweigh their 

 bad ones. 



My botanical excursions take me, each year, to the haunts of 

 various kinds of Orchids. One season I noted down as many as 

 sixteen different species, and on one 

 memorable journey observed nine species 

 in blossom. One of my treasured re- 

 collections is the sight of a colony of 

 White Helleborine in a little Beech copse, 

 where the Wood Wren sings its some- 

 what monotonous song. I lit upon the 

 copse unawares, not knowing what it 

 contained, and the sight that met my 

 gaze will never be effaced. The tall, 

 dignified Helleborine was at its best, 

 and the greenish-white, flask-shaped 

 flowers gave a glow of light to the 

 otherwise sombre garb of the little 

 coppice. 



I have sought the heart of an Oak 

 wood, where Herb Paris, or True Lover's 

 Knot, flourishes, to find the Bird's Nest 

 Orchid, and in the damp meadow ad- 

 joining I have discovered many varieties 

 of the Spotted Orchid, as well as the 

 Pyramidal, and Frog. 



And the little copse on the chalk 



escarpment is peopled during Summer 

 FIG. 62. BEE ORCHID. -.i. T r\ i.- 5 o-i 



with Fly Orchids and Roman Snails. I 



know not which I best like to discover, but find some excuse 

 to pass that way whenever I can. 



In the old woods at home I always knew where to find the first 

 groups of Early Purple Orchids, just over the bank bordering 

 the deep ditch where the Primrose legions gathered, and I have 

 tramped many miles across country in order to see the Bee 

 Orchid rearing its proud head among the luxuriant herbage of a 

 ride, cut through a wood. To-day this Orchid flourishes exceed- 

 ingly within a stone's throw of my front door, but its days are 

 numbered, as civilisation penetrates into its wild fastnesses. 



As a change from the meadows, woods, and downs, I ramble, 



