A MARSH WALK IN MAY 



For real enjoyment of a country walk, much must 

 necessarily depend upon the season at which it is 

 undertaken. In the woodlands, it is true, fresh 

 beauty may be discerned at almost any season of the 

 year, and the glowing, varying tones of autumn are 

 in their own way quite as lovely to contemplate as 

 the pale yet vivid tints of spring. In the marsh, 

 however, it is different, arid_for many months in the 

 year the landscape presents the appearance of a 

 dreary desolate waste. No trees to break the mono- 

 tony of the flat and flowerless fields, intersected only 

 by broad dykes, with here and there a footbridge 

 for the shepherds to reach their flocks ; the inter- 

 minable plain stretches on and on till it meets the 

 dim outline of the distant sea-wall, or is lost in an 

 overhanging veil of mist. There are times, indeed, 

 as in the month of November, when the marsh 

 appears perfectly deserted. Not a sound is heard, 

 and there is hardly any sign of life. A few Larks in 

 scattered flocks rise at intervals in front of the in- 

 truder, a Reed Bunting or two in the dykes, and 

 here and there, like a dot upon the plain, a Grey 

 Crow may be seen busily employed, perhaps in 

 opening a mussel, or searching for the well-buried 

 larvae of some beetle. 



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