1076 



THE NATURE BOOK 



rholo-.yaph by T. H. YeUiham. iralliri^ion. 



'A CLEFT OF Vl.KDANT LOVELINESS, WHERE WAVY GRASS AND FERNS 

 IN WILD PROFUSION O'ERHANG THE SILVERY WATER." 



hidden among the wiry grass. Under the 

 fervent dancing glare of the sun the whole 

 field vibrates with hfe. The very atoms 

 of the heated air resound. First one, 

 then another, then many together, the 

 grasshoppers shrill. At every step, up 

 they spring and away — long, curved, flying 

 leaps over the grass. Colour engraileJ 

 and spotted, quaint little hoppers scatter 

 like sand before the foot ; yellow-striped 

 and coppery-gleaming flies moving on the 

 flowers, and the tense buzzing of flies 

 swiftly passing hither and thither and 

 hovering in the air. Lavish spreads of 

 purple th}Tne where the field dips down 

 to the road, and the humming bees 



pollen gathering, in- 

 tent, not a floret 

 unexplored. Flower 

 of the fullness and 

 prime of summer, 

 like the bees so re- 

 luctant to leave it, 

 the spirit is enriched 

 in contact with it. 

 Its rare perfume is 

 a power of good. 

 Crossing the road, 

 two white butterflies 

 sport together, now 

 rising, now falling, 

 chasing each other 

 round and round in 

 giddy circles. Sud- 

 den, swift, and high 

 slants the one out of 

 sight ; leisurel}' the 

 other, fluttering to a 

 purple knap - weed, 

 shuts its wings, 

 wheels half a turn, 

 and motionless rests. 

 Now grown so tall 

 and o\'erhung with 

 tresses rich of creamy 

 crimsoned honey- 

 suckle, the hedgerow 

 forms a sheltering 

 screen in the scorch- 

 ing hour. Freshness 

 and beauty are of 

 its leafiness, a wealth 

 of variant green, of 

 h a w thorn inter- 

 woven with barberry 

 and glossy undergold 

 There white and pink 

 impulsively the hand 

 goes out to clasp its sprays of floral love- 

 Uness. Hedge-sparrows pass in and out, 

 wrens rustle among the leaves, green- 

 linches " twee, twee," and the yellow- 

 hammers are singing. Under the hedge 

 and rearing high against it waves of 

 grasses, club-tipped and panicled, fox- 

 tails, cocksfoot, silvered pink soft grass, 

 brome dusty with pollen which falls in 

 showers at the touch ; and among the 

 grasses bittersweet and the traihng St. 

 John's wort entangled with cleavers, and 

 long strings of blue vetch intertwining up 

 the hedge. Tall in the ditch stands the 



of beech and hazel, 

 the sweet wild rose 



