326 MY COUNTRY 'WANDERINGS 



This, however, is not the case, and I know of no 

 more delightful season of the year to be out and 

 about in the country than at the season chosen as 

 the subject for this little sketch. 



In December the foliage is off the trees, and 

 many of the woodland-loving birds may be seen 

 to greater advantage than during the season of 

 the year when the leaves hang in such dense 

 festoons as to hide many species from view. And, 

 more than that, at this season birds — and, indeed, 

 many other forms of wild life — seem to be more 

 easily watched and less timorous and shy than 

 during the more favourable periods in Nature's 

 calendar. 



What, may I ask, is more enjoyable to the lover 

 of the country than to watch and listen for its 

 tenants during a ramble in December? More 

 especially is this the case when the atmospheric 

 conditions are seasonable — that is, crisp, cold 

 weather — and perchance favoured by bright, in- 

 vigorating sunshine. 



Dr. Dallenger — that able and popular exponent 

 of scientific truths — in a recent lecture which I had 

 the pleasure and profit of hearing him deliver, 

 said: "Sunbeams are bundles of energy"; and 

 so they are. I often think that we too little 

 appreciate the sunshine, but, though we may do 

 so on occasions, certain is it that bright sunshine 

 on a cold Winter's morning is one of the pleasantest 



