THE PLOVER. 265 



contend with time as determinedly as if it were of giant 

 lineaments. 



There is no time, however, to spare for the minutiae 

 of nature, interesting and wonderful though they be : the 

 charm of a summer's morning is in the upland, and the 

 extensive view ; and they who have never beheld the 

 rising sun from a mountain top, know not how fair the 

 world is. Early though it be, there is a sentinel upon 

 the heath ; a shrill whistle comes sharp and clear upon 

 the morning breeze, which makes all the echoes of the 

 west answer. But be not alarmed, there is no danger : 

 no Guerilla, not even a solitary robber, upon the Bri- 

 tish uplands ; and the eagle and the raven are yet in 

 the rocks, and reynard just leaving his earth in the 

 coppice below. That whistle is his reveillie, to warn 

 those birds that nestle among the grass in the heath, 

 that the enemy is coming abroad. It is the note of 



THE PLOVER. 



[WINTER PLUMAGE.] 

 2 A 



