70 
INTRODUCTION, 
luxuriance of vegetation, varying with beautiful 
flowers and rich foliage, has charms quiet and 
seducing, and affording ample subject for con- 
templation. In the depth of the forest, or on 
the mountain’s top, ere break of day had awa- 
kened their various tenants, and in some of 
our beautiful mornings of mid-year, we have 
seen how deeply tinted seemed the green of the 
foliage, and how chaste and blended were the 
tints on the nearly barren rock ; how lovely the 
sylvan flowers appeared, shewing their freshest 
blossoms amidst the soft and matted growth be- 
neath, and how exquisite the structure of the moss 
or lichen within our reach ; how calm, clear, and 
serene the air, how deep the shadows, but how 
complete the quiet, how still the silence 1 There 
is something in the gradual change from darkness 
to day-light in places such as these, which, while 
it is pleasing and agreeable to witness, leaves a 
deep and impressive feeling not to be dispelled by 
the richest or most attractive vegetation. Soon, 
however, the stillness is broken, the various crea- 
tures go to their usual occupations — search of 
food, or the business of procreation. The scene 
is at once enlivened, and to none are we more 
indebted for the animated change which ensues 
than to those forms which will now more par- 
ticularly claim our attention. 
The ornithology of the British Islands may be 
