om their lair.

Winter, with its long hours of sleep, passed quietly away. Amid the
sprouting grasses by the river-bank, the snowdrops opened to the breath
of spring; soon afterwards, the early violets and primroses decked the
hedgerows on the margin of the wood, and the wild hyacinths thrust their
spike-shaped leaves above the mould. The hedgehogs, curled in their beds
amid the wind-blown oak-leaves, were awakened by the gentle heat, and
wandered through the ditches in search of slugs and snails. One
evening, as the moon shone over the hill, the woodcock, that for months
had dwelt by day in the oak-scrub near the "set," and had fed at night
in the swampy thickets by the rill, heard the voice of a curlew
descending from the heights of the sky, and rose, on quick, glad
pinions, far beyond the soaring of the lark, to join a great bird-army
travelling north. Regularly, as the time for sleep drew nigh, the old
inhabitants among the woodland birds--the thrushes, the robins, the
finches, and the wrens--squabbled loudly as they settled to rest: their
favourite roosting places were being invaded by aliens of their species,
that, desirous of breaking for the night their northward journey,
dropped, twittering, into every bush and brake on the margin of the
copse. And into Nature's breast swept, like an irresistible flood, a
yearning for maternity.

The vixen, that once had rested inside the burrow to recover from her
"run" before the hounds, remembered the sanctuary, returned to it, and
there in time gave birth to her young; and, though almost in touch with
such enemies as the badger and the fox, a few of the rabbits that had
been reared during the previous season in the antechamber of the "set"
enlarged their dwelling place, and were soon engaged in tending a
numerous offspring. The timid wood-mice, following suit, scooped out a
dozen tiny galleries within an old back entrance of the burrow, and
multiplied exceedingly. But, while all other creatures seemed bent on
family affairs, Brock's parents, following a not infrequent habit of
their kindred, deferred such duties to another season.

As spring advanced, food became far more abundant than in winter, and
the badgers' appetites correspondingly increased. Directly the evening
shadows began to deepen, parents and cubs alike became impatient of the
long day's inactivity, and adjourned together to one or other of the
entrances, generally to the main opening behind the big mound. T