NUTS. 165 



of green is always delicious, however green ; 

 so is a belt of blue. These are the colours of earth 

 and sky, and are never monotonous to the eye. 



The Rockrose sprang up, and the Wild Thyme 

 and the Primrose carpeted the woods. Still the 

 sap ascended, the hazel leaves drank in the 

 moisture, and expanded more and more. By 

 June their green rounded lobes were perfected, 

 and then the hazel was not an unhandsome tree. 

 It was now, during the time of the running 

 sap, that the old Basket-maker came to the 

 copse for the long lissom wands ; they are 

 tough and flexible, and are used for a variety 

 of purposes. Here, too, the professional Fern- 

 seller obtained the sticks wherewith to make 

 his rustic baskets. By this time the soft-billed 

 summer birds had arrived, and the woods and 

 copses were flooded with their outpourings. 

 By the time the old Keeper brought his 

 pheasants to rear among the bushes the nuts 

 were beginning to form. 



The Squirrel had built its airy nest far out 

 among the swaying branches of a pine ; the 

 call of a Nuthatch came up from the glade ; and 

 the red Wood-mouse again rustled among the 

 leaves. Still the nuts grew and shaped until 



