150 THE OPEN BOOK OF NATURE 
at a safe distance, they are back at the bush. Look 
at them through this field-glass. Both male and 
female are alike in plumage. Their backs and wings 
are a warm brown streaked with a brown that is 
almost black at first sight; their throats, cheeks, 
and breasts are of a colour between a slate and a grey, 
and they are almost 54 inches in length. I am 
sure you will have often noted their little song ; 
you may hear it, and be thankful for its cheeriness, 
in the midst of winter, when bird songs are scarce. 
T ought to tell you that this bird is not a true 
sparrow; it is a near relation of the Robins, I 
expect we shall go on calling the bird a Hedge 
Sparrow, for that is the almost universal practice, 
but its proper name is the Hedge Accentor. I always 
connect the name “ Accentor’”’ with the song of 
the bird, which seems to me to sing in accents, 
jerking up and down and here and there on the 
scale in a very peculiar fashion. The scientific 
name of the bird is Accentor modularis. 
We'll make our way along the lane to the quarry. 
The hedges are a glorious green just now ; they look 
sweet and wholesome in their new foliage, which 
has not yet got dimmed and dingy with dust. The 
hedge-banks are bright with flowers. Here is a big 
patch of White Dead Nettle (Lamium album). This 
plant is so common in our district that we are apt 
to pass it by without remark, but there are parts 
of the country where it is scarce. I have hunted 
for it whole days in the West of Scotland with- 
out finding it. It is-really a very sweet plant, 
and one that merits more notice than is often 
given to it. As its name implies, it is a “‘ dead 
