Heath tell us "it is the commonest plants whose colours are the most
beautiful and striking." Amongst those which produce the most brilliant
autumnal tints, the following are found almost everywhere in the hedges
in England: Bramble, hawthorn, wild strawberry, dock, spindle-tree, herb
robert, cranes-bill, silver weed, hedge maple, dogwood, black bryony,
ivy; while in the kitchen gardens nothing can exceed the beauty of the
asparagus and the common carrot.
* * * * *
Many birds come to England from the north to spend the winter. Wild
ducks, woodcocks, fieldfares, and curlews are coming now, besides
thrushes, larks, and other small birds. Some of these live with us all
through the year, and are only joined by relatives from colder climates.
In very cold winters many birds who do not usually migrate, are driven
south in search of food; but the reception they meet with is hardly
calculated to attract great numbers of strangers to our shores; for the
notice one usually reads in the newspapers is that such and such a rare
bird "has been seen and _shot_."
* * * * *
"It is as hot as we have it in India, or, at any rate, I feel the heat
as much.
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