178 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



north that the peabody-birdhad started. 

 A humming-bird yet darts about the 

 arbour; but be ready, for eastward and 

 northward there are high winds; the 

 sea-smell is sharp in the nostrils, and 

 in spite of the warm yellow light on the 

 pastures, the surf sends a warning note 

 from the shore. 



The night was heavy and starless, 

 with frequent gusts of wind, but the 

 storm parted sidewise, and before the 

 late dawn, dull gray clouds with 

 embered edges, like damp wood 

 smouldering, lay in the southeast, and 

 the bird storm the night had brought 

 was spread over dell, garden, and 

 hedge. It had come, the high tide of 

 the fall migration ! Many years will 

 pass with nicely graded weather, when 

 the birds slip past unnoticed, and then 

 a storm will bring them on its crest 

 like driftwood. 



