In the Oster-bed, 241 
have chosen to breed in: in the frosts of winter they 
work their way up the brooks, or fly at night, but 
usually come back to the old spot. The dabchick, a 
slender bird, haunts the pond here too, diving even 
more quickly than the moorhen. 
Nut-tree bushes grow along the bank of the brook 
on this side—the nuts are a smaller sort than usual; 
and beside the wet ditch within the mound and on 
the ‘shore,’ wherever the scythe has not reached, the 
meadow-sweet rears its pale flowers. At. evening, 
if it be sultry, and on some days, especially be- 
fore a thunderstorm, the whole mead is full of the 
fragrance of this plant, which lines the inside ditch 
almost everywhere. So heavy and powerful is its 
odour that the still motionless air between the thick 
hedges becomes oppressive, and it is a relief to issue 
forth into the open fields away from the perfume 
and the brooding heat. But by day it is pleasant to 
linger in the shadow and inhale its sweetness—if you 
are not nervous of snakes, for there is one here and 
there in the grass gliding away at the jar of the 
earth under your footstep. Warmth and moisture 
favour their increase, as on a larger scale in tropic 
lands ; and parts of the mead are often under water 
when a freshet comes down the brooks so choked 
with flags that they cannot carry it away quickly. 
The osier-bed in the angle where the brooks join 
is on slightly higher ground, for although the withy 
likes water at its roots it should not stand in it. 
R 
