Woodside. 69 



The sun disappears, the Swallow-tail moth in its pale prim- 

 rose dress, and some relatives with richer tints dart to and 

 fro in the open rides. The light grows fainter and fainter, 

 a dark shadowy body passes rapidly before our eyes, so quickly 

 indeed that we are not quite sure that our eyes did not 

 deceive us in the increasing gloom. The sky loses its blue 

 and becomes darker and darker in tint, whilst yonder, to- 

 wards the south, the planets and more brilliant stars become 

 faintly visible, progressively increasing in brightness as the 

 gloom deepens ; shadows pass more frequently before our 

 eyes, whilst the eerie cry of the nightjar tells us how busily 

 it is at work. Between us and the sky other dark shadows 

 are to be seen, standing out clearly, and marking the flight 

 of many bats, whilst the descent of the pale yellow wings 

 of the Swallow-tail moth tells on what they feed. True 

 there is an abundance of moths here, but this is compensated 

 for by the abundance of birds and bats which live on them. 

 How clearly do we see again that the wood in which we rest 

 is " a world of plunder and prey." 



The gloom increases, the stars grow brighter and appear 

 more numerous. The glow-worm crawls from her retreat 

 and shows her pleasant light ; but this only makes the 

 absence of light and the solitude of the woods more complete. 

 And now darkness reigns supreme. The pale-coloured 

 moths are visible no longer, nor can we any longer see the 

 ghostly shadows of flitting bats and nightjars, although the 

 weird, uncanny cry of the latter is as frequent as ever, and 

 together with the rapid vibration of their wings as they fly 

 near us, appeals to our ears long after the creatures them- 

 selves have become quite invisible to us. 



Let us go on ! The path is straight and thickly lined with 



