. Hours in my garden, and other nature-sketches. With 138 illus. Natural history. 166 My Favourite GOLDFINCH. and our presence seemed to create a panic of disorder and dismay among its denizens. Butterflies and beetles vied with each other in brilliancy of colour up in that solitude, and lovely birds were there, and even the water-wagtail by the tiny stream seemed lovely. The wood was literally carpeted with fir-needles, and with cones of former seasons now dry and sapless, and ever at the foot of trees we came on fungi that showed like gems and pearls. We gathered and gathered
. Hours in my garden, and other nature-sketches. With 138 illus. Natural history. 166 My Favourite GOLDFINCH. and our presence seemed to create a panic of disorder and dismay among its denizens. Butterflies and beetles vied with each other in brilliancy of colour up in that solitude, and lovely birds were there, and even the water-wagtail by the tiny stream seemed lovely. The wood was literally carpeted with fir-needles, and with cones of former seasons now dry and sapless, and ever at the foot of trees we came on fungi that showed like gems and pearls. We gathered and gathered fir-cones till the sun fell, and then returned in the soft twilight, when the mantle of grey was falling over all, and the glow-worms were hanging out their lamps on the hill- sides. We were healthily tired, but we had our prize of cones wherewith to make our much- wished for ornaments, and we went to bed arid dreamed of that wood, with its shy and lovely ever-active denizens—dreamt that we roved by still more unfrequented and erratic ways than we had that day-traversed, lost our bearings, and ourselves were lost, and went hopelessly from point to point, leaping over tiny streams flowing through miles of fir and pine in endless avenues and glades, till at last we sank exhausted on a bed of fern and dreamt—a dream within a dream—of a hill-top, with fairies in circles on it, like circles of light, into which we were led, and Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Japp, Alexander H. (Alexander Hay), 1839-1905. New York, Macmillan & Co.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookp, booksubjectnaturalhistory
