THE VERGE OF THE FOREST 79 



hottest day in summer. The banks of the stream are 

 clothed with ferns of the tenderest green both the 

 male and the female fern, the long, ribbon-like fronds 

 of the hart's-tongue, the hard-fern and the sweet- 

 scented mountain-fern. Tall foxgloves are everywhere, 

 and present a fine contrast with their splendid spikes of 

 purple flowers to the soft, delicate green of the filices. 

 Here, as elsewhere on the verge of the Forest, the tap- 

 ping of the woodpecker may be heard, and perhaps the 

 jarring notes of a jay as the handsome bird leaves the 

 shelter of a holly bush. 



