INTRODUCTION 



MORE WOODLAND PICTURES 



There is a peculiar fascination in being in a wood at any time, but 

 especially so in the early morning when the sun is just flashing its rays 

 across the dew-spattered meadows and through the fast-leafing woodland of 

 the first days of spring. 



Towards the gloaming hour, too, when the chorus of thrushes and 

 blackbirds is such a feature of our English springtime, there is some in- 

 describable charm in wandering silently through a wood, and again, in the 

 very heart of summer, it is cool and refreshing to dive into the greenwood's 

 welcome shade. The birds have by then mostly ceased their minstrelsy ; 

 perchance a startled rabbit skips away as you tread on a piece of dead 

 wood which goes off with a loud report ; an inquiring robin and a few 

 tits are busy on the moss-strewn tree trunk yonder, but even the indus- 

 trious insects seem to be taking life very quietly and soberly. 



How still everything is ! Not a leaf stirs. The trees bear the full com- 

 plement of their summer dresses ; they are simply wreathed in foliage, and 

 many are already in fruit. You rest awhile near the old spot you know 

 and love so well. A turtle-dove slips silently off her nest, and you would 

 not have noticed her at all only your eye chanced to wander towards the 

 spot from whence she rose. 



What pictures come to mind as you sit there soliloquising. You think first 

 of those cheerless winter days when it was cold and blustering in the open, 

 but mild and inviting among the trees. Then later comes the remembrance 

 of the first little tuft of red upon the Hazel, the bursting of the Sallow into 

 a blaze of splendour, the feathery tufts upon the Larch, the green carpet 

 afforded by the Dog's Mercury, the gradual robing of the woodland, the 

 mating of birds, the hum of insects, and finally the full glow of spring. 



These thoughts have often occurred to us as we have sought refuge in the 



wood from the rush and bustle of everyday life. We have tested it at all 



times and at all seasons, and it has never disappointed us. When within 



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