2 INTRODUCTION. 



its fury, driving the twitterers from the sprays, and forcing 

 them to take shelter in clefts of the trees and crannies of 

 the earth, when the sky is darkened by the congregated 

 flakes of snow, which throw their protecting mantle over the 

 earth, but compel the inhabitants of the cottage to remain 

 within, and merely eye the storm which rages without, it is 

 then that the door is left a-jar, and the little red-breast 

 comes hopping in for his crumbs, welcome and well-beloved 

 by the very boys that make the plundering of nests a portion 

 of their summer's sport ; and the memory of his winter visit 

 of familiarity, his chirp of gratitude for his pittance, and the 

 early song with which he serenades his benefactors before 

 taking his seasonal departure for the coppice, remains; and 

 the boys spare the robin's nest, in order that the winter 

 visitant may return again with confidence. 



When the winter relents, when the snowy mantle is dis- 

 solved, so that the early flowers display their colours, and the 

 icy fetters of the waters are broken, so that the early water- 

 flies begin to sport in the sun, when man first feels the 

 genial breath of the young year, away from the smoke of the 

 town, or the shelter of the country habitation, the song of 

 the lark, soaring to the zenith, and thrilling the atmosphere, 

 is more gratifying to the sense, and inspires more uplifting of 

 the spirit, than all the skill of the orchestra. 



Indeed, in all places wherein man can hold converse with 

 nature, or derive pleasure from the contemplation of it, the 

 Urd, the inhabitant of the life-giving atmosphere, is that 

 which imparts the finishing touch to the enjoyment. 



At the base of some wave-beaten cliff, which rises bold and 

 rugged into mid air, cutting off the landward view, it is plea- 

 sant to sit on some jutting point, or to recline in some little 

 niche which nature's own hand has scooped out, and look 

 upon the glorious expanse of water which girdles the globe. 

 It is one of those mackerel-breezy days on which the surface 



