NATURE NEAR LONDON 



woods ; there are woods to the south, and west, and 

 east, heath around, and in the rear the gaze travels 

 over the tops of the endless firs. But south- 

 wards is sweetest ; below, beyond the verge of 

 the heath, the corn begins, and waves in the wind. 

 It is the breeze that makes the summer day so 

 lovely. 



The eggs of the nighthawk are sometimes found 

 at this season near by. They are laid on the 

 ground, on the barest spots, where there is no 

 herbage. At dusk, the nighthawk wheels with a 

 soft yet quick flight over the ferns and about the 

 trees. Along the hedges bounding the heath 

 butcher-birds watch for their prey sometimes on 

 the furze, sometimes on a branch of ash. Wood- 

 sage grows plentifully on the banks by the roads ; 

 it is a plant somewhat resembling a lowly nettle; 

 the leaves have a hop-like scent, and so bitter and 

 strong is the odour that immediately after smelling 

 them the mouth for a moment feels dry with a 

 sense of thirst. 



The angle of a field by the woods on the eastern 

 side of the heath, the entire corner, is blue in July 

 with viper's bugloss. The stalks rise some two 

 feet, and are covered with minute brown dots ; 

 they are rough, and the lower part prickly. Blue 

 flowers in pairs, with pink stamens and pink buds, 

 bloom thickly round the top, and, as each plant has 

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