igo NATURE'S STORY OF THE YEAR 



grass is longest (and especially if the ancient hill 

 shrub, the juniper, is there) the bee builds a 

 shelter for her brood in the very spot where, long 

 years ago, the hill-loving Briton of those times 

 cooked his simple fare for a brood of young bar- 

 barians, or chipped his costly bartered flints, and 

 made ready to track the deer and beaver, or to 

 fight the fierce Silures of Severn Valley. 



In the woods the breeze is equally enriched. 

 Who has not noticed under beech trees the 

 fragrance of the fallen leaves which in some 

 spots are several feet in depth pressed in suc- 

 cessive layers that record past summers, yet 

 merging imperceptibly into the black leaf mould ? 

 Who has passed through a larch wood in May 

 and not rejoiced in the perfume? But it is not 

 only from trees that these pleasures are derived. 

 Many of the wild-flowers are even sweeter. The 

 thyme affords a common instance ; nor must we 

 forget the scent of grass and moss forming the 

 thin green vest of the hills. The honeysuckle is 

 a well-known censer, but when wild it is not a free 

 bloomer, and generally sways only a few clusters 

 at one time above the hedge. Deep in the woods 



