SUMMER ON THE MOORS. 51 



July 10th, and the first young wild ducks on the 14th. The 

 Mallard drakes have now entirely lost their bright green 

 heads and handsome plumage, and are undergoing that 

 remarkable " eclipse " which is peculiar to the genus and 

 wholly inexplicable. Both Mallard and Teal drakes were 

 observed apparently in full normal plumage up to the early 

 days of June. 



July 15th. — By this date the young Curlew, Plover, and 

 other moor-bred wild birds are strong on the wing, and 

 many are congregating into packs. Their southern migra- 

 tion is impending and will commence in earnest within a 

 few days. 



The month of July marks the conclusion of the summer 

 period. Already among the feathered world there have 

 begun to appear symptoms of autumnal conditions. As early 

 as mid-June, the Starlings and Peewits are seen to be gather- 

 ing into flocks ; but in July the movement rapidly develops, 

 and the signs of the time are plentiful and patent enough to 

 those who are interested in reading them. Strange birds 

 ajjpear in strange situations. In the lowlands, the whistle 

 of Curlew or Plover is heard amidst the unwonted environ- 

 ment of waving corn, or among enclosed fields of turnips or 

 potatoes. From a farm pond, one perhaps springs a Dunlin 

 or half a dozen Sandpipers ; and at night strange bird-notes 

 come down from the dark skies overhead. A " blackbird with 

 a white breast" is perhaps reported by the gardener among 

 the currant bushes. It is, of course, a Eing-Ouzel, and the 

 small bird the cat has caught proves to be a young Wheatear. 

 Poor fellow ! he was just starting so blythely on his first (and 

 last) voyage of discovery to the Mediterranean. On the sea- 

 side the Terns have broken up their nesting encampments, 

 and spread themselves all along the coast, where the sand- 

 eels and herring-syle are just now so abundant and so 

 tempting. The Terns are immediately followed up by their 

 arch-enemy, the pirate Skua, and almost every day one sees 

 stray stragglers of the water-fowl and wading tribes — 

 Whimbrels from Shetland, perhaps a little string of Grey 

 Geese from Sutherland or the Hebrides, all in full cry, the 

 first Godwits or Turnstones — the vanguard of the vast 



E 2 



