The nightingale ceases singing about 18th or 20th June. A bird here and there may sing later; I occasionally hear one as late as the first days of July. And because the nightingale is not so numerous as the other singers, and his song attracts more attention, we get the idea that his musical period is soonest over. Yet several other species come to the end of their vocal11 season quite as early, or but little later. If it be an extremely abundant species, as in the case of the willow-wren12, we will hear a score or fifty sing for every nightingale. Blackcap and garden warbler, whitethroat and lesser13 whitethroat, are nearly silent, too, at the beginning of July; and altogether it seems to be the rule that the species oftenest heard after June are the most abundant.
{90}
The woodland silence increases during July and August, not only because the singing season is ended, but also because the birds are leaving the woods: that darkness and closeness which oppresses us when we walk in the deep shade is not congenial to them; besides, food is less plentiful14 than in the open places, where the sun shines and the wind blows.
Woods, again, vary greatly in character and the degree of attractiveness they have for birds: the copse and spinney keep a part of their population through the hottest months; and coming to large woods the oak is never oppressive like the beech15 and other deciduous16 trees. It spreads its branches wide, and has wide spaces which let in the light and air; grass and undergrowth flourish beneath it, and, better than all, it abounds17 in bird food on its foliage19 above all trees.
My favourite woods were almost entirely20 of oak with a holly21 undergrowth, and at some points oaks were mixed with firs. They were never gloomy nor so silent as most woods; but in July, as a rule, one had to look for the birds, since they were no longer distributed through the wood as in the spring and early summer, but were congregated23 at certain points.
Mixed bird-companies
Most persons are familiar with those companies of small birds which form in woods in winter, composed of tits of all species, with siskins, goldcrests, and sometimes other kinds. The July gatherings are larger, include more species, and do not travel incessantly24 like the winter companies. They are composed of families—parent birds and their young, {91} lately out of the nest, brought to the oaks to be fed on caterpillars. It may be that their food is more abundant at certain points, but it is also probable that their social disposition causes them to congregate22. Walking in the silent woods you begin to hear them at a considerable distance ahead—a great variety of sounds, mostly of that shrill25, sharp, penetrative character which is common to many young passerine birds when calling to be fed. The birds will sometimes be found distributed over an acre of ground, a family or two occupying every large oak tree—tits, finches, warblers, the tree-creeper, nuthatch, and the jay. What, one asks, is the jay doing in such company? He is feeding at the same table, and certainly not on them. All, jays included, are occupied with the same business, minutely examining each cluster of leaves, picking off every green caterpillar3, and extracting the chrysalids from every rolled-up leaf. The airy little leaf-warblers and the tits do this very deftly27; the heavier birds are obliged to advance with caution along the twig28 until by stretching the neck they can reach their prey29 lurking30 in the green cluster, and thrust their beaks31 into each little green web-fastened cylinder32. But all are doing the same thing in pretty much the same way. While the old birds are gathering1 food, the young, sitting in branches close by, are incessantly clamouring to be fed, their various calls making a tempest of shrill and querulous sounds in the wood. And the shrillest of all are the long-tailed tits; these will not sit still and wait like the others, {92} but all, a dozen or fifteen to a brood, hurry after their busy parents, all the time sending out those needles of sound in showers. Of hard-billed birds the chaffinch, as usual, was the most numerous, but there were, to my surprise, many yellowhammers; all these, like the rest, with their newly brought out young. The presence of the hawfinch was another surprise; and here I noticed that the hunger call of the young hawfinch is the loudest of all—a measured, powerful, metallic33 chirp34, heard high above the shrill hubbub35.
Caterpillars and ants
Watching one of these busy companies of small birds at work, one is amazed at the thought of the abundance of larval insect life in these oak woods. The caterpillars must be devoured36 in tens of thousands every day for some weeks, yet when the time comes one is amazed again at the numbers that have survived to know a winged life. On July evenings with the low sun shining on the green oaks at this place I have seen the trees covered as with a pale silvery mist—a mist composed of myriads37 of small white and pale-grey moths38 fluttering about the oak foliage. Yet it is probable that all the birds eat is but a small fraction of the entire number destroyed. The rapacious insects are in myriads too, and are most of them at war with the soft-bodied caterpillars. The earth under the bed of dead leaves is full of them, and the surface is hunted over all day by the wood or horse ants—Formica rufa. One day, standing39 still to watch a number of these ants moving about in all directions over the ground, I saw a green {93} geometer caterpillar fall from an oak leaf above to the earth, and no sooner had it dropped than an ant saw and attacked it, seizing it at one end of its body with his jaws40. The caterpillar threw itself into a horseshoe form, and then, violently jerking its body round, flung the ant away to a distance of a couple of inches. But the attack was renewed, and three times the ant was thrown violently off; then another ant came, and he, too, was twice thrown off; then a third ant joined in the fight, and when all three had fastened their jaws on their victim the struggle ceased, and the caterpillar was dragged away. That is the fate of most caterpillars that come to the ground. But the ants ascend41 the trees; you see them going up and coming down in thousands, and you find on examination that they distribute themselves over the whole tree, even to the highest and farthest terminal twigs42. And their numbers are incalculable—here in the Forest, at all events. Not only are their communities large, numbering hundreds of thousands in a nest, but their nests here are in hundreds, and it is not uncommon43 to find them in groups, three or four up to eight or ten, all within a distance of a few yards of one another.
I had thought to write more, a whole chapter in fact, on this fascinating and puzzling insect—our "noble ant," as our old ant-lover Gould called it; but I have had to throw out that and much besides in order to keep this book within reasonable dimensions.
There is another noise of birds in all woods and copses in the silent season which is familiar to {94} everyone—the sudden excited cries they utter at the sight of some prowling animal—fox, cat, or stoat. Even in the darkest, stillest woods these little tempests of noise occasionally break out, for no sooner does one bird utter the alarm cry than all within hearing hasten to the spot to increase the tumult44. These tempests are of two kinds—the greater and lesser; in the first jays, blackbirds, and missel-thrushes take part, the magpie45 too, if he is in the wood, and almost invariably the outcry is caused by the appearance of one of the animals just named. In the smaller outbreaks, which are far more frequent, none of these birds take any part, not even the excitable blackbird, in spite of his readiness to make a noise on the least provocation46. Only the smaller birds are concerned here, from the chaffinch down; and the weasel is, I believe, almost always the exciting cause. If it be as I think, a curious thing is that birds like the chaffinch and the tits, which have their nests placed out of its reach, should be so overcome at the sight of this minute creature which hunts on the ground, and which blackbirds and jays refuse to notice in spite of the outrageous47 din10 of the finches. The chaffinch is invariably first and loudest in these outbreaks; a dozen or twenty times a day, even in July and August, you will hear his loud passionate48 pink-pink calling on all of his kind to join him, and by-and-by, if you can succeed in getting to the spot, you will hear other species joining in—the girding of oxeye and blue tit, the angry, percussive49 note of the wren, the low wailing50 of the robin51, and {95} the still sadder dunnock, and the small plaintive52 cries of the tree-warblers.
Weasel and small birds
What an idle demonstration53, what a fuss about nothing it seems! The minute weasel is on the track of a vole or a wood-mouse and cannot harm the birds. Yes, he can take the nestlings from the robin's and willow-wren's nests, and from other nests built on the ground, but what has the chaffinch to do with it all? Can it be that there is some fatal weakness in birds, in spite of their wings, in this bird especially, such as exists in voles, and mice, and rabbits, and in frogs and lizards54, which brings them down to destruction, and of which they are in some way conscious? Some months ago there was a correspondence in the Field which touched upon this very subject. One gentleman wrote that he had found three freshly-killed adult cock chaffinches in a weasel's nest, and he asked in consequence how this small creature that hunts on the ground could be so successful in capturing so alert and vigorous a bird as this finch26.
For a long time before this correspondence appeared I had been trying to find out the secret of the matter, but the weasel has keen senses, and it is hard to see and follow his movements in a copse without alarming him. One day, over a year ago, near Boldre, I was fortunate enough to hear a commotion55 of the lesser kind at a spot where I could steal upon without alarming the little beast. There was an oak tree, with some scanty56 thorn-bushes growing beside the trunk, and stealing quietly to the spot I peeped {96} through the screening thorns, and saw a weasel lying coiled round, snakewise, at the roots of the oak in a bed of dead leaves. He was grinning and chattering57 at the birds, his whole body quivering with excitement. Close to him on the twigs above the birds were perched, and fluttering from twig to twig—chaffinches, wrens58, robins59, dunnocks, oxeyes, and two or three willow-wrens and chiffchaffs. The chaffinches were the most excited, and were nearest to him. Suddenly, after a few moments, the weasel began wriggling60 and spinning round with such velocity61 that his shape became indistinguishable, and he appeared as a small round red object violently agitated62, his rapid motions stirring up the dead leaves so that they fluttered about him. Then he was still again, but chattering and quivering, then again the violent motion, and each time he made this extraordinary movement the excitement and cries of the birds increased and they fluttered closer down on the twigs. Unluckily, just when I was on the point of actually witnessing the end of this strange little drama—a chaffinch, I am sure, would have been the victim—the little flat-headed wretch63 became aware of my presence, not five yards from him, and springing up he scuttled64 into hiding.
Fascination
If, as I think, certain species of birds are so thrown off their mental balance by the sight of this enemy as to come in their frenzy65 down to be taken by him, it is clear that he fascinates—to use the convenient old word—in two different ways, or that his furred and feathered victims are differently affected66. In the {97} case of the rabbits and of the small rodents67, we see that they recognise the dangerous character of their pursuer and try their best to escape from him, but that they cannot attain68 their normal speed—they cannot run as they do from a man, or dog, or other enemy, or as they run ordinarily when chasing one another. Yet it is plain to anyone who has watched a rabbit followed by a stoat that they strain every nerve to escape, and, conscious of their weakness, are on the brink69 of despair and ready to collapse70. The rabbit's appearance when he is being followed, even when his foe71 is at a distance behind, his trembling frame, little hopping72 movements, and agonising cries, which may be heard distinctly three or four hundred yards away, remind us of our own state in a bad dream, when some terrible enemy, or some nameless horror, is coming swiftly upon us; when we must put forth74 our utmost speed to escape instant destruction, yet have a leaden weight on our limbs that prevents us from moving.
I have often watched rabbits hunted by stoats, and recently, at Beaulieu, I watched a vole hunted by a weasel, and it was simply the stoat and rabbit hunt in little.
Weasel and vole
It is a typical case, and I will describe just what I saw, and saw very well. I was on the hard, white road between Beaulieu village and Hilltop, when the little animal—a common field vole—came out from the hedge and ran along the road, and knowing from his appearance that he was being pursued, I stood still to see the result. He had a very odd look: {98} instead of a smooth-haired little mouse-like creature running smoothly75 and swiftly over the bare ground, he was all hunched76 up, his hair standing on end like bristles77, and he moved in a series of heavy painful hops78. Before he had gone half a dozen yards, the weasel appeared at the point where the vole had come out, following by scent79, his nose close to the ground; but on coming into the open road he lifted his head and caught sight of the straining vole, and at once dashed at and overtook him. A grip, a little futile80 squeal81, and all was over, and the weasel disappeared into the hedge. But his mate had crossed the road a few moments before—I had seen her run by me—and he wanted to follow her, and so presently he emerged again with the vole in his mouth, and plucking up courage ran across close to me. I stood motionless until he was near my feet, then suddenly stamped on the hard road, and this so startled him that he dropped his prey and scuttled into cover. Very soon he came out again, and, seeing me so still, made a dash to recover his vole, when I stamped again, and he lost it again and fled; but only to return for another try, until he had made at least a dozen attempts. Then he gave it up, and peering at me in a bird-like way from the roadside grass began uttering a series of low, sorrowful sounds, so low indeed that if I had been more than six yards from him they would have been inaudible—low, and soft, and musical, and very sad, until he quite melted my heart, and I turned away, leaving him to his vole, feeling as much ashamed of myself as if I had teased {99} a pretty bright-eyed little child by keeping his cake or apple until I had made him cry.
With regard to these fatal weaknesses in birds, mammals and reptiles82, which we see are confined to certain species, they always strike us as out of the order of nature, or as abnormal, if the word may be used in such a connection. Perhaps it can be properly used. I remember that Herodotus, in his History of Egypt, relates that when a fire broke out in any city in that country, the people did not concern themselves about extinguishing it; their whole anxiety was to prevent the cats from rushing into the flames and destroying themselves. To this end the people would occupy all the approaches to the burning building, forming a cordon83, as it were, to keep the cats back; but in spite of all they could do, some of them would get through, and rush into the flames and die. The omniscient84 learned person may tell me that Herodotus is the Father of Lies, if he likes, and is anxious to say something witty85 and original; but I believe this story of the cats, since not Herodotus, nor any Egyptian who was his informant, would or could have invented such a tale. Believing it, I can only explain it on the assumption that this Egyptian race of cats had become subject to a fatal weakness, a hypnotic effect caused by the sight of a great blaze. In like manner, if our chaffinch gets too much excited and finally comes down to be destroyed by a weasel, when he catches sight of that small red animal, or sees him going through that strange antic performance which I witnessed, it does not follow that the {100} weakness or abnormality is universal in the species. It may be only in a race.
Strange weaknesses
Again, with regard to rabbits: when hunted by a stoat they endeavour to fly, but cannot, and are destroyed owing to that strange—one might almost say unnatural—weakness; but I can believe that if a colony of British rabbits were to inhabit, for a good many generations, some distant country where there are no stoats, this weakness would be outgrown86. It is probable that, even in this stoat-infested country, not all individuals are subject to such a failing, and that, in those which have it, it differs in degree. If it is a weakness, a something inimical, then it is reasonable to believe that nature works to eliminate it, whether by natural selection or some other means.
The main point is the origin of this flaw in certain races, and perhaps species. How comes it that certain animals should, in certain circumstances, act in a definite way, as by instinct, to the detriment87 of their own and the advantage of some other species—in this case that of a direct and well-known enemy? It is a mystery, one which, so far as I know, has not yet been looked into. A small ray of light may be thrown on the matter, if we consider the fact of those strange weaknesses and mental abnormalities in our own species, which are supposed to have their origin in violent emotional and other peculiar88 mental states in one of our parents. "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children's teeth are set on edge," is one of the old proverbs quoted by Ezekiel. I know of one unfortunate person who, if he but sees {101} a lemon squeezed, or a child biting an unripe-looking fruit, has his teeth so effectually set on edge, that he cannot put food into his mouth for some time after. Here is a farmer, a big, strong, healthy man, who himself works on his farm like any labourer, who, if he but catches sight of any ophidian—adder, or harmless grass snake, or poor, innocent blindworm—instantly lets fall the implements89 from his hands, and stands trembling, white as a ghost, for some time; then, finally, he goes back to the house, slowly and totteringly, like some very aged90, feeble invalid91, and dropping on to a bed, he lies nerveless for the rest of that day. Night and sleep restore him to his normal state.
I give this one of scores of similar cases which I have found. Such things are indeed very common. But how does the fact of pre-natal suggestion help us to get the true meaning of such a phenomenon as fascination? It does not help us if we consider it by itself. It is a fact that "freaks" of this kind, mental and physical, are transmissible, but that helps us little—the abnormal individual has the whole normal race against him. Thus, in reference to the cat story in Herodotus, here in a Hampshire village, a mile or two from where I am writing this chapter, a cottage took fire one evening, and when the villagers were gathered on the spot watching the progress of the fire, some pigs—a sow with her young ones—appeared on the scene and dashed into the flames. The people rushed to the rescue, and with some difficulty pulled the pigs out; and finally hurdles92 had to be brought {102} and placed in the way of the sow to prevent her getting back, so anxious was she to treat the villagers to roast pig.
This is a case of the hypnotic effect of fire on animals, and perhaps many similar cases would be found if looked for. We know that most animals are strangely attracted by fire at night, but they fear it too, and keep at a proper distance. It draws and disturbs but does not upset their mental balance. But how it came about that a whole race of cats in ancient Egypt were thrown off their balance and were always ready to rush into destruction like the Hampshire pigs, is a mystery.
To return to fascination. Let us (to personify) remember that Nature in her endeavours to safeguard all and every one of her creatures has given them the passion of fear in various degrees, according to their several needs, and in the greatest degree to her persecuted93 weaklings; and this emotion, to be efficient, must be brought to the extreme limit, beyond which it becomes debilitating94 and is a positive danger, even to betraying to destruction the life it was designed to save. Let us consider this fact in connection with that of pre-natal suggestion—of weak species frequently excited to an extremity95 of fear at the sight, familiar to them, of some deadly enemy, and the possible effect of that constantly recurring96 violent disturbance97 and image of terror on the young that are to be.
The guess may go for what it is worth. We know that the susceptibility of certain animals—the vole {103} and the frog, let us say—to fascination, is like nothing else in animal life, since it is a great disadvantage to the species, a veritable weakness, which might even be called a disease; and that it must therefore have its cause in too great a strain on the system somewhere; and we know, too, that it is inheritable. But the facts are too few, since no one has yet taken pains to collect data on the matter. There is a good deal of material lying about in print; and I am astonished at many things I hear from intelligent keepers, and other persons who see a good deal of wild life, bearing on this subject. But I do not now propose to follow it any further.
I went into the oak wood one morning, and, finding it unusually still, betook myself to a spot where I had often found the birds gathered. It was a favourite place, where there was running water and very large trees standing wide apart, with a lawn-like green turf beneath them. This green space was about half an acre in extent, and was surrounded by a thicker wood of oak and holly, with an undergrowth of brambles. Here I found a dead squirrel lying on the turf under one of the biggest oaks, looking exceedingly conspicuous98 with the bright morning sun shining on him.
A poor bag! the reader may say, but it was the day of small things at the end of July, and this dead creature gave me something to think about. How in the name of wonder came it to be dead at that peaceful place, where no gun was fired! I could not believe that he had died, for never had I seen a finer, {104} glossier-coated, better-nourished-looking squirrel. "Whiter than pearls are his teeth," were Christ's words in the legend when His followers99 looked with disgust and abhorrence100 at a dead dog lying in the public way. This dead animal had more than pearly teeth to admire; he was actually beautiful to the sight, lying graceful101 in death on the moist green sward in his rich chestnut102 reds and flower-like whiteness. The wild, bright-eyed, alert little creature—it seemed a strange and unheard-of thing that he, of all the woodland people, should be lying there, motionless, not stiffened103 yet and scarcely cold.
A keeper in Hampshire told me that he once saw a squirrel accidentally kill itself in a curious way. The keeper was walking on a hard road, and noticed the squirrel high up in the topmost branches of the trees overhead, bounding along from branch to branch before him, and by-and-by, failing to grasp the branch it had aimed at, it fell fifty or sixty feet to the earth, and was stone-dead when he picked it up from the road. But such accidents must be exceedingly rare in the squirrel's life.
Fleas large and small
Looking closely at my dead squirrel to make sure that he had no external hurt, I was surprised to find its fur peopled with lively black fleas, running about as if very much upset at the death of their host. These fleas were to my eyes just like pulex irritans—our own flea7; but it is doubtful that it was the same, as we know that a great many animals have their own species to tease them. Now, I have noticed that some very small animals have very small fleas; and {105} that, one would imagine, is as it should be, since fleas are small to begin with, because they cannot afford to be large, and the flea that would be safe on a dog would be an unsuitable parasite104 for so small a creature as a mouse. The common shrew is an example. It has often happened that when in an early morning walk I have found one lying dead on the path or road and have touched it, out instantly a number of fleas have jumped. And on touching105 it again, there may be a second and a third shower. These fleas, parasitical106 on so minute a mammal, are themselves minute—pretty sherry-coloured little creatures, not half so big as the dog's flea. It appears to be a habit of some wild fleas, when the animal they live on dies and grows cold, to place themselves on the surface of the fur and to hop73 well away when shaken. But we do not yet know very much about their lives. Huxley once said that we were in danger of being buried under our accumulated monographs107. There is, one is sorry to find, no monograph108 on the fleas; a strange omission109, when we consider that we have, as the life-work of an industrious110 German, a big handsome quarto, abundantly illustrated111, on the more degraded and less interesting Pedicularia.
The multitude of fleas, big and black, on my dead squirrel, seemed a ten-times bigger puzzle than the one of the squirrel's death. For how had they got there? They were not hatched and brought up on the squirrel: they passed their life as larv? on the ground, among the dead leaves, probably feeding on decayed organic matter. How did so many of them {106} succeed in getting hold of so very sprightly112 and irritable113 a creature, who lives mostly high up in the trees, and does not lie about on the ground? Can it be that fleas—those proper to the squirrel—swarm on the ground in the woods, and that without feeding on mammalian blood they are able to propagate and keep up their numbers? These questions have yet to be answered.
It struck me at last that these sprightly parasites114 might have been the cause of the squirrel's coming to grief; that, driven to desperation by their persecutions, he had cast himself down from some topmost branch, and so put an end to the worry with his life.
A squirrel's disposition
Squirrels abound18 in these woods, and but for parasites and their own evil tempers they might be happy all the time. But they are explosive and tyrannical to an almost insane degree; and this may be an effect of the deleterious substances they are fond of eating. They will feast on scarlet115 and orange agarics—lovely things to look at, but deadly to creatures that are not immune. A prettier spectacle than two squirrels fighting is not to be seen among the oaks. So swift are they, so amazingly quick in their doublings, in feints, attack, flight, and chase; moving not as though running on trees and ground, but as if flying and gliding116; and so rarely do they come within touching distance of one another, that the delighted looker-on might easily suppose that it is all in fun. In their most truculent117 moods, in their fiercest fights, they cannot cease to be graceful in all their motions.
{107}
A common action of squirrels, when excited, of throwing things down, has been oddly misinterpreted by some observers who have written about it. Here I have often watched a squirrel, madly excited at my presence when I have stopped to watch him, dancing about and whisking his tail, scolding in a variety of tones, and emitting that curious sound which reminds one of the chattering cry of fieldfares when alarmed; and finally tearing off the loose bark with his little hands and teeth, and biting, too, at twigs and leaves so as to cause them to fall in showers. The little pot boils over in that way, and that's all there is to be said about it.
Walking among the oaks one day in early winter when the trees were nearly leafless, I noticed a squirrel sitting very quietly on a branch; and though he did not get excited, he began to move away before me, stopping at intervals118 and sitting still to watch me for a few moments. He was a trifle suspicious, and nothing more. In this way he went on for some distance, and by-and-by came to a long horizontal branch thickly clothed with long lichen119 on its upper sides, and instantly his demeanour changed. He was all excitement, and bounding along the branch he eagerly began to look for something, sniffing120 and scratching with his paws, and presently he pulled out a nut which had been concealed121 in a crevice122 under the lichen, and sitting up, he began cracking and eating it, taking no further notice of me. The sudden change in him, the hurried search for something, and the result, seemed to throw some light on the question of the animal's memory with reference {108} to his habit of hiding food. It is one common to a great number of rodents, and to many of the higher mammals—Canid? and Felid?, and to many birds, including most, if not all, the Corvid?.
When the food is hidden away here, there, and everywhere, we know from observation that in innumerable instances it is never found, and probably never looked for again; and of the squirrel we are accustomed to say that he no sooner hides a nut than he forgets all about it. Doubtless he does, and yet something may bring it back to his mind. In this matter I think there is a considerable difference between the higher mammals, cats and dogs, for instance, and the rodents; I think the dog has a better or more highly developed memory. Thus, I have seen a dog looking enviously123 at another who had got a bone, and after gazing at him with watering mouth for some time, suddenly turn round and go off at a great pace to a distant part of the ground, and there begin digging, and presently pull out a bone of his own, which he had no doubt forgotten all about until he was feelingly reminded of it. I doubt if a squirrel would ever rise to this height; but on coming by chance to a spot with very marked features, where he had once hidden a nut, then I think the sight of the place might bring back the old impression.
I have often remarked when riding a nervous horse, that he will invariably become alarmed, and sometimes start at nothing, on arriving at some spot where something had once occurred to frighten him. The sight of the spot brings up the image of the {109} object or sound that startled him; or, to adopt a later interpretation124 of memory, the past event is reconstructed in his mind. Again, I have noticed with dogs, when one is brought to a spot where on a former occasion he has battled with or captured some animal, or where he has met with some exciting adventure, he shows by a sudden change in his manner, in eyes and twitching125 nose, that it has all come back to him, and he appears as if looking for its instant repetition.
The lower kind of memory
We see that we possess this lower kind of memory ourselves—that its process is the same in man and dog and squirrel. I am, for instance, riding or walking in a part of the country which all seems unfamiliar126, and I have no recollection of ever having passed that way before; but by-and-by I come to some spot where I have had some little adventure, some mishap127, tearing my coat or wounding my hand in getting through a barbed-wire fence; or where I had discovered that I had lost something, or left something behind at the inn where I last stayed; or where I had a puncture128 in my tyre; or where I first saw a rare and beautiful butterfly, or bird, or flower, if I am interested in such things; and the whole scene—the fields and trees and hedges, and farm-house or cottage below—is all as familiar as possible. But it is the scene that brings back the event. The scene was impressed on the mind at the emotional moment, and is instantly recognised, and at the moment of recognition the associated event is remembered.
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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caterpillar
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| n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
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caterpillars
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| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
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rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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wren
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| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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deciduous
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| adj.非永久的；短暂的；脱落的；落叶的 | |
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abounds
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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19
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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21
holly
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| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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22
congregate
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| v.(使)集合，聚集 | |
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congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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25
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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finch
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| n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀，金丝雀等) | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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28
twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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29
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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30
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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31
beaks
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| n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者 | |
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32
cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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34
chirp
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| v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫 | |
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35
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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36
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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37
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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38
moths
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| n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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39
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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41
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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42
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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43
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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44
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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magpie
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| n.喜欢收藏物品的人，喜鹊，饶舌者 | |
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provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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47
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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48
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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49
percussive
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| adj.敲击的 | |
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50
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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51
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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52
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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53
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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54
lizards
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| n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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55
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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56
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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57
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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58
wrens
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| n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 ) | |
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59
robins
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| n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书） | |
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wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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62
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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63
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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64
scuttled
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| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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65
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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66
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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67
rodents
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| n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 ) | |
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68
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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69
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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70
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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71
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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72
hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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73
hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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74
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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75
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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76
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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77
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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78
hops
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| 跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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79
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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80
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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81
squeal
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| v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音 | |
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82
reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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83
cordon
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| n.警戒线，哨兵线 | |
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84
omniscient
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| adj.无所不知的；博识的 | |
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85
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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86
outgrown
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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87
detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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88
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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89
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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91
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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92
hurdles
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| n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛 | |
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93
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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94
debilitating
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| a.使衰弱的 | |
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95
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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96
recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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97
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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98
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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99
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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100
abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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101
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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102
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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103
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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104
parasite
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| n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客 | |
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105
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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106
parasitical
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| adj. 寄生的(符加的) | |
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107
monographs
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| n.专著，专论( monograph的名词复数 ) | |
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108
monograph
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| n.专题文章，专题著作 | |
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109
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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110
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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111
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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112
sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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113
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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114
parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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115
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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116
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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117
truculent
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| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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118
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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119
lichen
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| n.地衣, 青苔 | |
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120
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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121
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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122
crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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123
enviously
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| adv.满怀嫉妒地 | |
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124
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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125
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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126
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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127
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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128
puncture
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| n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破 | |
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