Egg-time. 55 



CHAPTER IV. 



EGG-TIME. A ' GIF '-TRAP. 



THERE is no sweeter time in the woods than just 

 before the nesting begins in earnest. Is it the rising 

 sap that causes a pleasant odour to emanate from 

 every green thing ? Idling along the hedgerows to- 

 wards the woodlands there may perchance be seen 

 small tufts of white rabbit's fur in the grass, torn 

 from herself by the doe to form a warm lining to the 

 hole in which her litter will appear : a ' sign ' this 

 that often guides a robber to her nest. 



Yonder on the rising ground, towering even in 

 their fall over the low (lately cut) ash plantation, lie 

 the giant limbs of the mighty oaks, thrown just as 

 they felt the quickening heat. The bark has been 

 stripped from the trunk and branches ; the sun has 

 turned the exposed surface to a deep buff colour, which 

 contrasts with t)ie fresh green of the undenvood around 

 and renders them visible afar. 



