which colossal specimens are found here and there throughout the county,
and its beeches, of which the beautiful woods on the Chiltern slopes and
elsewhere in the W. are largely composed. The hornbeam is almost
restricted to Essex and Hertfordshire. The woods of Hertfordshire form
indeed its sweetest attraction in the eyes of many. The districts of
Rickmansworth, Radlett, Wheathampstead and Breachwood Green, among
others, are dotted with coppices of ideal loveliness, and larger
woods such as Batch Wood near St. Albans and Bricket Wood near Watford
are carpeted with flowers in their season, interspersed with glades, and
haunted by jays and doves, by ringlets and brimstones. Hazel woods
abound, and parties of village children busily "a-nutting" in the autumn
are one of the commonest sights of the county. It abounds, too, in quiet
park-like spots which are the delight of artists, and contains many
villages and hamlets picturesquely situated upon slopes and embowered
among trees. A large proportion of the birds known to English observers
are found in the county either regularly or as chance visitors, and will
be treated more fully in a separate section. The many narrow, winding,
flower-scented lanes are one of the chief beauties of Hertfordshire. The
eastern part of the county, though, on the whole, less charming to the
eye than the rest, contains some fine manor houses and interesting old
parish churches. Its most beautiful part is unquestionably the W., near
the Buckinghamshire border; its greatest historic interest centres
around St. Albans, with its wonderful old abbey church now largely
restored; Berkhampstead, Hertford, Hatfield and Hitchin. The county
contains rather less than the average of waste or common land; the
stretches of heath used for grazing purposes only aggregating 1,200
acres.

Among the finest panoramic views may be mentioned:--