150 REMARKS ON THE 



The country in this semicircle is composed chiefly of pasture 

 and wood-land, in about equal proportions — there is but little 

 arable land ; no river flows through it, and we have no large 

 pieces of water. But let us examine it in detail, beginning at 

 the south-western extremity: — There, at High-Beech, the 

 ranges of little hills which compose most of this semicircle, 

 terminate and give place to the valley in which stands the 

 town of Waltham Abbey, whose monks, in former times, 

 possessed all the land in this part, and in whose church lies, or 

 is said to lie, all that remains of the last of our Saxon kings. 

 The soil of High-Beech is sandy, but only for a small space. 

 A portion of the forest here consists of tall trees, chiefly 

 beeches and oaks, but nearly all that part of it which lies to 

 the south and south-west of the town, is little more than an 

 assemblage of pollard hornbeams, whose seeds are in winter a 

 favourite food of the grosbeak, a bird by no means rare here. 

 Intermixed with the hornbeams are a few pollard and some 

 tall oaks, and many tall crab-trees, hollies, and white-thorns. 

 In the two latter the grosbeak mostly builds. Gentle reader, 

 were this the proper place, I could tell thee many a history of 

 this and our other birds, although I am not professedly an 

 ornithologist ; but as Sancho says, " Tal vez ay, que se 

 busca una cosa, y se halla otra." And thus it has happened, 

 that in my solitary walks after insects, I have often learned as 

 much of birds as of them. But this is neither here nor there. 



We have few flowers of which insects are fond, in this, or 

 indeed in any part of our woods, — the Umbelliferce in par- 

 ticular are almost entirely wanting. There are a few rather rare 

 plants which occur here, as Campanula hederacea, Polygonum 

 multijlora, Hypericum elodes, Veronica montana, &c. The 

 Entomology of this part differs chiefly from that of the rest 

 of our neighbourhood, in offering fewer both of species and 

 individuals, but Polyommatus Argus, Melitacea Selene, and 

 Hipparchia Galathea, are abundant here ; whilst in the woods 

 to the east of the town the first never occurs, the second is 

 very rare, although M. Eujihrosyne abounds, and the third 

 has nearly disappeared. I have also taken here Brachinus 

 crepitans, Cychrus rostratus, Carabus catenulatus, Berosus 

 ccriceps, Panurgus ursinus, Acrocera globula, and some 

 other insects we do not take elsewhere within our district. 



To the east and south-east of the town are the woods 



