BUNTINGS. 15 



the harrow has performed its work, he may nestle in safety, 

 as his young ones will be on the wing before another foot 

 shall invade his chosen field. 



~Nor, though different, is it in worse keeping, if one takes 

 to the upland, tracking the line where the grass and heather 

 meet, in order to catch the first light breeze of March upon 

 the hill. The moss by the streaking runnel is in the brightest 

 of its verdure, the daisy on the sward has just shaken off the 

 snow, and caught a drop of kindlier dew, through which its. 

 golden eye, surrounded with pearl and tipt with crimson,, 

 smiles on the day. The heath-cock has lain down to bask, 

 the plover and ever-stirring lapwing are close, or have not 

 arrived, and the crow and the raven are prowling in the cop- 

 pice below, to clear whatever may have perished there during 

 the storm. There are only a few tiny day-gnats dancing 

 over the pools, which are reeking up to form those clouds 

 that will refresh the earth with kindly showers. Thus there 

 Is loneliness perfect solitude ; but the air is fresh, the hori- 

 zon is ample ; the pulse beats firm, the lungs play free,, the 

 steps lengthen, and one feels months adding to the term of 

 life. While one is in this mood, up springs the dappled 

 brown wood-lark, warbling his prelude, till he gains the top 

 of that single bird-sown and scraggy tree, which winds from 

 all points have bent and twisted, only to make its roots strike 

 the deeper, and its wood become as iron, and then, wheeling 

 upward, he redoubles his melody, till all the wild rings again, 

 even when the songster is viewless in the sky, and one 

 becomes inspired with the free spirit of the hill. 



To decide which of the three should have the preference, is 

 not easy. They are like the seasons : each derives much of 

 its interest and charm from alternating with the others. 



BUNTINGS (Emberiza). 

 Buntings are a numerous race ; and as the resident ones 



