ROUND HOUSE AND GARDEN 



215 



set off by the pink flowers whose wares are a sure lure for this 

 reveller in the Autumn sunshine. 



Of miscellaneous garden inhabitants there is not a lengthy 

 list. Centipedes scuttle from beneath clods of earth, fallen 

 leaves (Laurels are a great nuisance when shedding their coats, 

 or when browned during a severe Winter), and other objects, 

 and the sluggish Millipede may occasionally be discovered. 



Spiders of various kinds tenant the garden, and are entirely 

 beneficial, and, if an old Toad 

 or two are introduced, ad- 

 ditional benefits will accrue. 

 The Toad is likely to make 

 a more lengthy stay in a 

 garden than the Frog, as it 

 is less given to roaming, and, 

 having found a suitable en- 

 vironment, takes kindly to it 

 year after year. 



The wily Hedgehog has at- 

 tempted to inspect my garden 



plot, and one day a Hare bolted like a flash from under my feet 

 as I opened the front gate. A proud Cock Pheasant, much to 

 my delight, stalked in the latter one Summer's day as I sat 

 writing at the open study window. 



Brimstone Butterflies are fairly constant visitors owing to 

 the near presence of the favourite food plant of the larva 

 Buckthorn which grows in the hedge opposite. The Large and 

 Small Garden White Butterflies are with us whenever the sun 

 shines, together with velvety Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, 

 and Orange Tips. 



From this brief resume the reader will obtain an impression 

 of the keen delights which a garden brings to a lover of Nature, 

 such as myself, and of the happy hours one may spend there in 

 the fresh air, under the open sky, with soaring Larks and tinkling 

 Meadow Pipits near at hand, and a wealth of floral treasures 

 waiting to be caressed. 



FIG. 90. GARDEN WHITE 

 BUTTERFLY. 



