THE BIRDS OF THE GREEN LANES. 121 



inexpressible thrill of pleasure on finding his first 

 bird's nest ? How clear seem the blue of the song- 

 thrush's eggs, and how marvellous the mottlings on 

 them ! We have carefully kept the secret of their 

 whereabouts, and been at no small trouble to conceal 

 our trail in the long summer grass, for fear other 

 boys should track us ! Those days are gone, but 

 thank Heaven, not the love of nature which was 

 then manifesting itself after its own fashion ! Who 

 can describe anything more purely elevating than 

 the chorus of thrush, blackbird, and lark in the 

 early summer ? We cannot bring it to memory with- 

 out the perfume of the hawthorn seeming to cross 

 our nostrils, and the bright yellow buttercups 

 appearing at our feet. 



Hardly less common birds are the Tits (Parus) 

 Their pretty confident ways, in the dreary winter, 

 when we are glad to see any bird at all, win our affec- 

 tion. You may watch them taking their short hops and 

 flights at that season, turning their heads towards 

 you in the most knowing manner. At no othei 

 time do their blue and green colours seem so 

 pleasing, and the birds appear as though they knew 

 it, for they allow you to approach nearer to them 

 then than at any other time. In the summer, you 

 may revive other of your boyish recollections by 

 noting how these birds draw you away from their 

 nests by their tantalising cries. In proportion as 

 you go further away, they seem more fidgetty, until 

 when you are far enough away, the tits fly and 



