SfGA'S OF SPRING 25 



them in March ; and it is commonly admitted that 

 birds are particularly susceptible to the influence 

 of weather, at least as regards their songs. It 

 may bring bees to early flowers, or the death of 

 frost. But the sun's progress is not changed, how- 

 ever closely it may sometimes be veiled. There is 

 expectation in the rosy glow of morning, and a 

 fiery promise is written each evening in the 

 western sky. 



But of all the signs of approaching spring, none 

 is more suggestive than the hot breath which is 

 exhaled at evening from banks on which the sun 

 has been shining. It is sweet, warm, embracing ; 

 nicer than the faint whiff of a field-fire or the 

 last blue wreath from smouldering wayside grasses. 

 It seems to be the very odour of Nature's garden : 

 something to be cherished in deep breaths. 



Solar heat penetrates the soil, and arouses the 

 hybernating creatures. Under the edges of coping- 

 stones, in niches in walls, in stacks of dry wood, or 

 in mould at the northern side of meadow trees, 

 may these creatures most commonly be found. 

 The insects there are not all of them adult, for 

 many are merely grubs or larvae ; but all are still 



