12 1 NATURE NEAR LONDON. 



bloom overhanging the edge, and behind this the 

 azure of the sky. 



Here, where the ground slopes gradually, it is 

 entirely covered with the purple bells ; a sheen and 

 gleam of purple light plays upon it. A fragrance of 

 sweet honey floats up from the flowers where grey 

 hive -bees are busy. Ascending still higher and 

 crossing the summit, the ground almost suddenly 

 falls away in a steep descent, and the entire hill side, 

 seen at a glance, is covered with heath, and heath 

 alone. A bunch at the very edge offers a purple 

 cushion fit for a king; resting here a delicious 

 summer breeze, passing over miles and miles of fields 

 and woods yonder, comes straight from the distant 

 hills. 



Along those hills the lines of darker green are 

 woods ; there are woods to the south, and west, and 

 east, heath around, and in the rear the gaze travels 

 over the tops of the endless firs. But southwards is 

 sweetest ; below, beyond the verge of the heath, the 

 corn begins, and waves in the wind. It is the breeze 

 that makes the summer day so lovely. 



The eggs of the nighthawk are sometimes found at 

 this season near by. They are laid on the ground, 

 on the barest spots, where there is no herbage. At 

 dusk, the nighthawk wheels with a soft yet quick 

 flight over the ferns and about the trees. Along the 

 hedges bounding the heath butcher-birds watch for 

 their prey — sometimes on the furze, sometimes on a 

 branch of ash. Wood-sage grows plentifully on the 

 banks by the roads ; it is a plant somewhat resem- 

 bling a lowly nettle ; the leaves have a hop -like scent. 



