NATURE NEAR LONDON s^a* 



they really seem to sing louder, and they are all 

 around. Thrushes appear to vary their notes 

 with the period of the year, singing louder in the 

 summer, and in the mild days of October when the 

 leaves lie brown and buff on the sward under their 

 perch more plaintively and delicately. \Varblers 

 and willow-wrens sing in the hollow in June, all 

 out of sight among the trees they are easily 

 hidden by a leaf. 



At that time the ivy leaves which flourish up to 

 the very tops of the oaks are so smooth with 

 enamelled surface, that high up, as the wind moves 

 them, they reflect the sunlight and scintillate. 

 Greenfinches in the elms never cease love-making ; 

 and love-making needs much soft talking. A 

 nightingale in a bush sings so loud the hawthorn 

 seems too small for the vigour of the song. He will 

 let you stand at the very verge of the bough ; but 

 it is too near, his voice is sweeter across the field. 



There are still, in October, a few red apples on 

 the boughs of the trees in a little orchard beside 

 the same road. It is a natural orchard left to 

 itself therefore there is always something to see 

 in it. The palings by the road are falling, and are 

 held up chiefly by the brambles about them and the 

 ivy that has climbed up. Trees stand on the 

 right and trees on the left ; there is a tall spruce 

 fir at the back. 



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