WHEN LIFE STIRS. n 



that you had been searching in quite the wrong 

 direction. The last tunnel that I examined had 

 young in it : the oak in which it was stood out by 

 itself on the sward. 



That full twit, twit, twit, like the lower notes 

 of a fife, comes from the nimble nuthatch that is 

 busily travelling over the trunks and limbs of the 

 nearest trees. This rich full twit ! must be heard 

 to be fully appreciated, for, like the laugh of the 

 green woodpecker, it is not to be described by the 

 pen. On the top twigs, just swaying to and fro 

 in the soft air, are the greenfinches, calling now as 

 they will call at times in the heat of summer, 

 Breeze, breeze-e-e, breeze ! 



As the time follows on, more decided evidence is 

 daily given that the heart of mighty nature is throb- 

 bing with the fulness which shall soon gladden all 

 her children ; the music of the winds, soft winds, 

 that wave and bend without breaking, can be heard 

 on the wide open commons of the uplands. 



Linnets gather and twitter to each other : the 

 cock-birds are very handsome now, for they are in 

 full nesting, or, we should have said, in full breed- 

 ing plumage. One near us, perched on the tips 



