CHAPTER VIII 



SUMMER ON THE MOORS— {concluded) 



July 



Early this month, the young - curlews, plovers, and 

 other moor-bred wild birds, are already on the wing - , 

 gaining - strength and wildness daily, and congregating 

 into packs preparatory to their impending departure. 



On the lower levels, by July, bird-song has been 

 superseded by an infinity of low call-notes — some harsh 

 and scolding, others soft and sibilant. These are the 

 communications — the secret signals — from anxious 

 parents to callow young, with the corresponding re- 

 sponses. None but the most highly-trained ear can 

 hope to interpret these semi-articulate signs and sounds, 

 their authors lurking - unseen amidst the dense foliage and 

 lush herbage of July. 



By the end of this month and during early August, a 

 striking silence reigns. Parental cares have then ceased. 

 The young are now on wing, launched upon life, inde- 

 pendent ; while the old are commencing to moult. 



The young of all birds at this stage possess a plumage 

 more perfect and regular than at any subsequent period 

 of their lives. For these first feathers have all grown 

 simultaneously ; hence all are equal in size and develop- 

 ment — a condition which does not obtain in moulting. As 



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