14 FROM SPRhXG TO FALL. 



bough to bough. It was a most ludicrous per- 

 formance to sec the young owl hump his back up, 

 flutter his weak wings, and turn his head from 

 side to side, for he could hear the call of his 

 parents but could not see me. 



Pheasants crow, and partridges call over i"idge 

 and furrow, and the hares course about in merry 

 fashion ; but as the fox and his vixen have a 

 family to provide for, some of their frolics may be 

 stopped prematurely. 



The daffydowndillies have been gathered in the 

 moist woodland meadows by the children, to their 

 heart's content, and nice bunches of snowdrops 

 had been gathered from the same place ; but these 

 are gone now. Daisies and the golden buttercups 

 now spangle the meadows. 



" One swallow does not make a summer," says 

 the old adage,— the first originator of that saying 

 must, I think, have been a little cantankerous ; 

 but the swallow, whenever he is seen, surely tells 

 that brighter days are in store for us. 



So far as the cuckoo is concerned, he has of 

 late years been a little unfortunate. Snowstorms 

 do not suit his constitution: for all that, he pulls 



