He taps for the purpose of
sounding the wood to see if it be hollow or bored by grubs, and to
startle the insects and make them run out for his convenience. He will
ascend dead branches barely half an inch thick that vibrate as he
springs from them, and proceeds down the hedge towards the wood. The
'snop-top' sounds in every elm, and grows fainter as he recedes. The
sound is often heard, but in the thick foliage of summer the bird
escapes unseen, unless you are sitting almost under the tree when he
arrives in it.
Then the rooks come drifting slowly to the beeches: they are uncertain
in their hour at this season--some, indeed, scarce care to return at
all; and even when quite dusk and the faint stars of summer rather show
themselves than shine, twos and threes come occasionally through the
gloom. A pair of doves pass swiftly, flying for the lower wood, where
the ashpoles grow. The grasshoppers sing in the grass, and will continue
till the dew descends. As the little bats flutter swiftly to and fro just
without the hedge, the faint sound of their wings is audible as they
turn: their membranes are not so silent as feathers, and they agitate
them with extreme velocity. Beetles go by with a loud hum, rising from
those isolated bunches of grass that may be seen in every field; for the
cows will not eat the rank green blades that grow over and hide dried
dung.
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