8i4 



THE NATURE BOOK 



swaying his body to and fro. " I'm an 

 old bird, twice as old as you are. 1 know 

 the world, and you ilon't. Dig ilown. 

 dig on, dig deep." and with these words 

 of warning he flew away, to be mobbed 

 by a company of finches as soon as he 

 reached the oy^en, because they thought 

 he was a hawk. 



Mrs. Rabbit sat for a moment think- 

 ing as deeply as a rabbit can. She was 

 trying to guess what the Cuckoo meant. 

 but soon gave up the effort, for she saw 

 some delicate grasses a few yards away. 

 She ran forward with a strange haste and 

 fed heartily, looking round now and again 

 to where Cubs ami Bal:)y Rabbits were 

 still jilaying lazily or basking on the 

 green sward. Then her quick ear caught 

 the sound of a cracking twig ; she called 

 her httle ones to her side and ran for home 

 just as the Vixen returned carrying two 

 dead rats in her mouth. The Fox Cubs 

 ran to their mother, who watched them 

 fight over the dainties and tear them to 

 pieces, but it was a sight that could only 

 have ]ileased a fox. Mother Rabbit did 

 not hke it at all, there was a certain 

 ugly significance about the action that 

 frightened her. She ke])t her little ones 



from all view of the proceedings, and, as 

 they would persist in scrambling to the 

 mouth of the stop, she turned round and 

 j)uslied them before her to the warm 

 chamber beyond the sloping passage. Once 

 in the shelter of her warm fur they soon 

 feU asleep. 



Night came slowly to the countryside, 

 dri\-mg the light before her from the 

 Heron Wood. The nightingale's song was 

 very clear now, so, too, was the wood 

 lark's, and from time to time the l^lack- 

 bird, whose nest was in the hoU}' bush, 

 would pipe a note or two, to show that 

 his voice was in good order. Moon and 

 stars shone bright above the Heron Wood 

 in a steel-blue sky, and the Cuckoo, coming 

 back to the pink thorn that the dew had 

 made more fragrant than before, lent his 

 merr}' notes to the support of the iiuisible 

 choir. 



" It's time to be up and doing, my 

 dear," said the old dog Fox to his Vixen 

 as he stretched himself; "the youngsters 

 are all asleep. I think I'U work the home 

 farm ; there's a lot of young })oultry al^out 

 just now." 



" There are some ducks round the pond 

 at Maylands," said the Vixen. " I'll 



A •]KRKll-.k hOSTKK MOTHHK, 



