Burnside. 8 1 



oaks, whilst the dark ones are inconspicuous on the oaks, 

 but conspicuous on the birches. 



Leaving the wood, we enter a large marshy field which 

 skirts the road on both sides ; this we cross to get to a little 

 thickly wooded and well - protected dingle, down which 

 another burn has cut its way from the mountain above. The 

 sides of this are pretty steep, and the rock is different in 

 this hollow from any we have seen here before. A mass of 

 dark red sandstone has been cut through for a short distance 

 by this noisy little stream, and the trees luxuriate here in the 

 hollows where 



" The scented birk and hawthorn white, 

 Across the pool their arms unite," 



though the living, laughing burn bears little resemblance to 

 a pool as it sparkles merrily over its rocky bed. 



Up the watercourse we go, springing from rock to rock. 

 The same species of Carpet moth that we saw in the wood 

 just now, flies off from the rocky sides at our approach. 

 There is one settling yonder. Keeping the eye fixed on 

 the spot, we peer carefully at the rock where it settled, 

 but can see no moth there. A slight breath, and what 

 appeared to be a piece of rock lifts itself up and moves a foot 

 or two away, then, dropping its wings flat upon the rock 

 again, becomes almost as invisible as before. Almost, but 

 not quite, for we are just able to trace its outline as a crack 

 in the rock, and there is another and another. We have 

 trained our eyes until they have acquired the requisite 

 amount of skill, and now, when we see several similar-look- 

 ing cracks, we know that they are Carpet moths. There is 

 a tit hunting the mossy bank ; every cranny and every nook 

 appears to be explored, but even the tit is often deceived. 



G 



