By the end of this month the leaves of many trees lose their green colour, and begin to assume their autumnal tints; which, however, are not complete till the ensuing month.

139

OCTOBER.

The fading many-coloured woods,
Shade deep'ning over shade, the country round
Imbrown; a crowded umbrage, dusk and dun,
Of every hue, from wan declining green
To sooty dark.

The chief business of nature at this season, as far as concerns the vegetable world, appears to be the scattering of the seeds. Now seeds are scattered by the hand of nature in various manners. Those which are furnished with plumes, or wings, are dispersed far and wide by the high winds which arise about this time. Hence plants with such seeds are of all others the most generally to be met with; as dandelion, groundsel, ragwort, thistles, &c. Others, by means of hooks with which they are furnished, lay hold of passing animals, and are thus carried to

distant places. examples of this contrivance. Several when ripe are thrown out with considerable force from their receptacle by means of a strong spring, of which the touch-me-not, and all the species of cardamine, or cuckooflower, are instances. Many are contained in berries, which being eaten by birds, the seeds are discharged again uninjured, and grow wherever they happen to light. Thus has nature carefully provided for the propagation and wide distribution of her vegetable offspring.

The common' burs are

The gloom of the declining year, is, however, during this month, enlivened by the variety of rich and bright colours exhibited by the fading leaves of shrubs and trees.

To these fugitive colours are added the more durable ones of ripened berries, al variety of which now adorn our hedges, Among these are particularly distinguished the hip, the fruit of the wild rose; the haw of the hawthorn; the sloe of the black-thorn; the blackberry, of the bramble; and the berries of the briony, privet, honey-suckle,elder, holly, and woody night-shade. These are a valuable supply for the birds during the cold weather; and it is said, upon the

authority of lord Bacon, that they are most plentiful when the ensuing winter is

to be most severe.

F

The royston or hooded crow, which breeds in Scotland and other northern regions, migrates to the southern districts of this island, being forced by the snow from its native haunts. It is readily distinguished by its ash-coloured back, and black head. Next to the raven, it is the most destructive bird of its kind that is known in this country, destroying lambs and young partridges, and moor fowl, and picking out the eyes of horses that happen to be entangled in bogs, on which account, in several parts of Scotland, it is pursued, and a reward offered for its head. The wood-cock about this time begins to be found on our eastern coasts, though the main body of them does not arrive till November or December. Various kinds of water fowl arrive from their northern summer residence in search of a more mild winter on the shores of Britain and Ireland. About the middle of the month, wild geese quit the fens, and go up to the rye lands, where they devour the young corn.

It is curious and highly amusing to observe the evening proceedings of the rooks

at this period of the year. Just before dusk, returning from the foraging flights of the day, before they betake themselves to roost in their nest trees, they gather in large numbers, and wheeling round in the air, sport and dive in a playful manner, all the while exerting their voices, and making a loud cawing, which being blended and softened by distance, becomes a pleasing murmur, not unlike the cry of a pack of hounds in deep hollow woods, or the tumbling of the tide on a pebbly shore. Stares begin to collect about this time, assembling in the fen countries in such vast multitudes as to destroy by their weight the reeds on which they perch, to the damage of the farmers, who derive no inconsiderable profit from the sale of the reeds, which, for thatching, are superior to every other material.

is

The weather, during this month, sometimes extremely misty, with a perfect calm. The ground is covered with spiders' webs innumerable, crossing the paths, extending from shrub to shrub, and floating in the air. This appearance is called gossamer, and is caused by an infinite multitude of small spiders, which, when they want to change their place, have a