Thistledown. 183 



its foliage, turning color, lies like crimson lace on 

 the bank. 



Even the tall thistles of the ditch have their beauty 

 — the flower has a delicate tint, varying with the 

 species from mauve to purple ; the humble-bee visits 

 eveiy thistle-bloom in his path, and there must there- 

 fore be sweetness in it. Then in the autumn issues 

 forth the floating thistledown, streaming through the 

 air and rolling like an aerial ball over the tips of the 

 bennets- Thistledown is sometimes gathered to fill 

 pillow-cases, and a pillow so filled is exquisitely 

 soft. There is not a nook or corner of the old 

 l^lace where something interesting rnay not be found. 

 Even the slates on a modern addition to the home- 

 stead are each bordered with yellow lichen — perhaps 

 because they adjoin thatch, for slates do not seem 

 generally to encourage the growth of lichen. It 

 appears to prefer tiles, which therefore sooner as- 

 sume an antique tint. 



To the geraniums in the bow-window the hum- 

 ming-bird moth comes now and then, hovering over 

 the scarlet petals. Out of the high elms drops a 

 huge gray moth, so exactly the color of gra^' lichen 

 that it might be passed for it — pursued, of course, 

 as it clumsily falls, hy two or more birds eager for 

 the spoil. It is feast-time with them when the cock- 

 chafers come : the}' leave nothing but wing-cases 

 scattered on the garden paths, like the shields of 

 slain men-at-arms. 



In the bright sunshine, when there is not a cloud 

 in the sky, slender beetles come forth from the cracks 

 of the earth and run swiftly across the paths, glitter- 

 ing green and gold, irridescent colors glistening on 



