OLD HEDGEROWS. 69 



It is a most amusing sight to see young robins 

 stand and look for the first time with open mouths 

 at some little rabbit coming out of their stop, whilst 

 they themselves are searching along the banks with 

 their parents for food. Young blackbirds and 

 thrushes act in the same way, just as if they were 

 utterly astonished to find other young things differ- 

 ent to themselves about. 



What can surpass a ragged hedge in the month 

 of June one that has once been " splashed," well 

 banked up, the deep " gripe " or ditch cleared, and 

 then left to make its own wild growth ? Some 

 people will go far to see less beauty than they can 

 find at home close to their own doors. 



June comes, bringing with it a cloudless sky and 

 great heat. It is the first day of the month, and 

 I am wandering along the hedge that I have indi- 

 cated. It is a tangle of dog-roses : great masses 

 of rose-colour there are, mixed with honeysuckle; 

 the vine-like leaves of the bryony show here and 

 there ; the vetches are climbing up ; as to the ferns, 

 they are in all the tender green freshness of early 

 summer; foxgloves, where the sun falls nearly all 

 the day, are in flower, their rich spikes of flower- 



