LEARNING TO FLY 



205 



ebb-tide in a brimmed sea-channel, the autumn migration 

 is already distantly begun. Mixed troops of old and young 

 birds appear in the new-cut hay-fields, pecking at the seeds 

 of the fallen flowers, or feeding on the insects laid bare in 

 the swaths and stubble. Plumage grows hard to distinguish, 

 though not so hard as when the old birds are in full moult in 

 July ; and some of the young ones wear curious and freakish 

 liveries. Young willow-wrens, for example, flit among the 

 currant-bushes in suits almost as yellow as a tit's or wagtail's ; 

 and in spite of their insectivorous reputations they do not 

 always spare the fruit. It seems more natural to see young 

 blue and great tits in bright suits of yellow and green. With 



YOUNG GREAT TITS 



them the chief point worth notice is that they adopt their 

 parents' gay colours so early, whereas many other young birds 

 do not gain the full adult plumage for months or even years. 

 The first plumage of young robins is a dull brown, flecked 

 with tawny spots, and few of the young birds which are 

 brought up in open nests, whether in boughs or on the ground, 

 present a close likeness to the adult plumage in their first 

 summer. More uniformity is observable in the case of birds 

 which nest in holes. Even the young wagtails, which are 

 usually nested in open and unsheltered cavities, have a plain 

 family likeness to their parents. The little pied wagtail newly 



