96 HILLSIDE, ROCK, AND DALE 



graph wires over the road. Underneath these, hedges 

 are festooned with wild clematis ; nodding harebells 

 and field scabious give the lane a border of two 

 distinct tints of blue, intermingled with the brilliant 

 scarlet spots of straggling poppies. But as the twilight 

 of August slowly fades into the serene quietness of 



night, the birds stop their 

 songs seemingly reluct- 

 antly and the colours of 

 flowers are lost in the 

 gloom of darkening night. 

 An August night is as 



,::^p7 -,_ interesting as the day, 



wyfl however. Especially is 



f this the case in cornfields. 



/k ^" ** TU i r 11 



These places give a full 



supply of food to numbers 

 of rodents, and also attract 

 as many owls in the night 

 as they do kestrels and 

 sparrow - hawks during 

 the day. Barn-owls may often be seen on moonlit 

 nights sitting on corn shocks waiting for mice ; and 

 anyone who waits at such a time will hear many a 

 dying cry of some small animal, the only intimation 

 that comes of these nocturnal tragedies in the fields. 



Before the last of the sheaves are gathered in the 

 trees assume touches of autumn's colour, only a leaf 



NUTHATCH 



