BIRD-LIFE ON THE MOOES IN AUGUST. 77 



supposed to be much rarer than they really are ; but they 

 are common enough, and on summer nights hawk about the 

 roadsides and close round houses. Young Wheatears flick 

 about everywhere, and Ring- Ouzels cling to the cleughs and 

 glens where they were bred. Lower down, on the burnsides. 

 Wagtails (Pied and Grrey) are conspicuous, daintily wading in 

 the shallow water ; a few Whinchats may be observed, and 

 early in the morning the Willow- Wren still warbles a faint 

 attempt at his spring song. The little Titlark, so well 

 known by its irritating custom of incessantly springing right 

 at one's feet with as much noise as a Grouse, and diving 

 as noisily into the heather only a few yards ahead, is not 

 generally considered a migratory bird, nevertheless it disap- 

 pears from the high moors in autumn. Except in very mild 

 seasons one seldom meets with it after the middle of 

 October. There is another small bird I should mention, for, 

 though I have never noticed it in August, it is sure to be 

 present, as I have found the nest among the heather in June, 

 viz., the Twite. It is a very inconspicuous little bird, and 

 in the "studio sequendi " has no doubt been overlooked. 

 Landrails remain about the rough grass on the fell edges till 

 the middle of September or later. I have shot one as late 

 as October 4. These birds are long in attaining the power 

 of flight — that is, they are full-grown before their quills are 

 fully' developed. One day in August, while sitting on a 

 grassy moor in Northumberland, I noticed a weasel emerge 

 from a hole in a burnside and attack something which proved 

 to be a young Landrail. I shot the weasel, and, on hunting 

 round with a dog, found several more Landrails, evidently a 

 brood, all nearly full-grown, but quite unable to rise, having 

 only the blue stumps of their future quill-feathers. Swifts also 

 in numbers seek the high ground just before their departure. 

 The above-named comprise most of the birds which during 

 August have either departed southwards or are preparing to 

 do so. The arrival of several of the autumnal migrants from 

 the north takes place so early as (so to speak) to overlap the 

 departure of some of the birds of sunshine. On the inland 

 moors the autumnal migration is not nearly so conspicuous 

 as it is on the coast. There it is usually inaugurated, often as 



