23 
known to any but ornithologists. The white breasts of the Golden 
and Grey Plovers now become of a jetty black, and the same part of 
the Godwits of a rusty red; the Lesser Gulls assume hoods of brown, 
and the Terns caps of glossy black, presenting a striking contrast to 
their coral-red feet ; the Divers doff their brown dress for a chequered 
one of black and white; the Sparrow acquires a black bill, the 
Chaffinch and the Hawfinch blue ones ; and the whole are now decked 
for their summer duties, after the performance of which they 
again resume the garb of winter, and retain it until the following 
spring. 
, Of the myriads of created beings which adorn our globe, birds must 
necessarily rank highly in the estimation of man, and be to him at 
all times objects of the greatest interest, inasmuch as they not only 
contribute in a hundred ways to his delight, but many of them to his 
sustenance. The buoyant Eagle, soaring in aérial evolutions towards 
the sun, elicits his admiration ; and the rapid stoop of the Falcon ex- 
cites his wonder. The Owl, which with noiseless flight crosses his 
path during its nocturnal prowlings, induces his surprise at the readi- 
ness with which it discerns the agile mouse and other small quadru- 
peds among the grass. If the fields attract him to roam in the day- 
time, the Lark and the Corn-Bunting are his companions; and he hears 
the voice of the Yaffle, proclaiming the approach of rain. If in the 
woods he is induced to stroll, the coo of the Pigeon strikes his ear, 
or the tapping of the Woodpecker arrests his attention, the songs of 
the Thrush, the Ouzel, the Blackcap, and other sylvan birds, with 
the Nightingale at their head, afford food to his mind and sweet music 
to his ear; the Crows, the Rooks and the Daws attract his notice ; 
__. and he does not fail to observe the difference in their cries, actions, 
¢ ~ sand economies. In the neighbourhood of streams the bright meteor- 
a _/like flash of the Kingfisher, the heavy flutter of the Moorhen, and the 
~ skimming flight of the Summer Snipe induce him to note how dif- 
ferently birds pass through the air, and to contrast the comparatively 
slow movements of the latter with the sweeping flight of the Swift, 
which nearly outstrips the wind. On the shores of the ocean a 
flood of new objects meet his gaze—the fairy-like Tern, the more 
robust Gulls, with Cormorants and many other aquatic species. 
In the marsh he hears the Snipe drum, the Bittern boom, and the 
plainly coloured Reed Warblers pour forth a succession of querulous 
sounds when intruded upon. While enjoying the invigorating air of 
the downs, though now deprived of the pleasure of seeing the stately 
Bustard, perchance his attention is arrested by the trippings of the 
Dottrel ; the Stone-Plover may rise at his feet, and wing its way over 
the hill to a place of security ; or the Wheatear and the Furze-Chat 
may attract his notice, the former by the whiteness of its ramp, and 
the latter by being perched on the very top of a furze-bush ; and if 
it be autumn, the heavy, flapping flight of the Pewit will show him 
that its structure is not so well adapted for passing through the air 
as that of the sharp-winged Golden Plover. 
In studying the denizens of our inland waters other opportunities 
for drawing a comparison will present themselves; he will not fail 
