Of all the gods and goddesses of classical mythology or our own folk-lore, none were more fascinating than the Nature SpiritsElves and Fairies, Neckans and Kelpies, Pixies and Ouphes, Mermaids, Undines, Water Spirits, and all the Elfin world Which have their haunts in dale and piny mountain, They come out, as we are told, especially on moonlight nights. But while evening thus clothes many a scene with poetry, forests are fairy land all day long. Almost any wood contains many and many a spot well suited for Fairy feasts; where one might almost expect to find Titania, resting, as once we are told, She lay upon a bank, the favourite haunt Of the Spring wind in its first sunshine hour, About her pillow,-linked in a gay band Floated fantastic shapes; these were her guards, The fairies have disappeared, and, so far as England is concerned, the larger forest animals have vanished almost as completely. The Elk and Bear, the Boar and Wolf have gone, the Stag has nearly disappeared, and but a scanty remnant of the original wild Cattle linger on at Chillingham. Still the woods teem with life; the Fox and Badger, Stoat and Weasel, Hare and Rabbit, Hedgehog, and last not least the Squirrel, so beautiful, so wonderful, and let us hope so happy. Gentle, clean and harmless in his food, innocent in all his ways, this little fairy of the forest glances and leaps and darts from bough to bough, looks for you, hides from you, peeps at you, and seems to challenge you to follow it! Then there are the Birds: Owls and Nightjar, Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Magpie, Doves, and a hundred more. In early spring the woods are bright with the feathery catkins of the Willow, followed by the soft green of the Beech, the white or pink flowers of the Thorn, the pyramids of the Horse-chestnut, festoons of the Laburnum and Acacia, while the Oak slowly wakes from its winter sleep, and the Ash leaves long linger in their black buds. Under foot is a carpet of flowers Anemones, Cowslips, Primroses, Bluebells, and the golden blossoms of the Broom, which, however, while Gorse and Heather continue in bloom for months, "blazes for a week or two, and is then completely extinguished, like a fire that has burnt itself out.' 1 In summer the tints grow darker, the birds are more numerous and full of life; the air teems with insects, with the busy murmur of bees and the idle hum of flies, The woods are filled so full of song There seems no room for sense of wrong; while the cool of morning and evening, and the heat of the day, are all alike delicious. year As the advances and the flowers wane, we have many beautiful fruits and berries, the red hips and haws of the wild roses and thorns, scarlet holly berries, crimson yew cups, the translucent berries of the Guelder Rose, hanging coral beads of the Black Bryony, feathery festoons of the Traveller's Joy, and others less conspicuous, but still exquisite in themselves—acorns, beech nuts, ash keys, and many more. It is really difficult to say which 1 Hamerton. are most beautiful, the tender greens of spring or the rich tints of autumn, which glow so brightly in the sunshine. Tropical fruits are even more striking. No one who has seen it can ever forget a grove of orange trees in full fruit. Indeed the more we examine the more we find to admire; all perfectly and exquisitely finished " usque ad ungues," perfect inside and outside, for Nature Does in the Pomegranate close Jewels more rare than Ormus shows.1 In winter the woods are comparatively bare and lifeless, even the Brambles and Woodbine, which straggle over the tangle of underwood being almost leafless. Still even then they have a beauty and interest of their own; the mossy boles of the trees; the delicate tracery of the branches which can hardly be appreciated when they are covered with leaves; and under foot the beds of fallen leaves; while the evergreens seem brighter than in summer; the ruddy stems and rich green foliage of the Scotch Pines, and the dark spires of the Firs, seeming to acquire fresh beauty. 1 Marvell. Again in winter, though no doubt the living tenants of the woods are much less numerous, many of our birds being then far away in the dense African forests, on the other hand those which remain are much more easily visible. We can follow the birds from tree to tree, and the Squirrel from bough to bough. It requires little imagination to regard trees as conscious beings, indeed it is almost an effort not to do so. "The various action of trees rooting themselves in inhospitable rocks, stooping to look into ravines, hiding from the search of glacier winds, reaching forth to the rays of rare sunshine, crowding down together to drink at sweetest streams, climbing hand in hand among the difficult slopes, opening in sudden dances among the mossy knolls, gathering into companies at rest among the fragrant fields, gliding in grave procession over the heavenward ridges-nothing of this can be conceived among the unvexed and unvaried felicities of the lowland forest; while to all these direct sources of greater beauty are |