INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS. 



flying and counter-flying, as if to strengthen their wings for 

 the long journey ; hordes of them wintering as far south as 

 the Bahamas. The cheery Yellow Warblers disappear from 

 the orchards, and the Veery comes from the moist woods 

 and scratches in the shrubbery. 



Now you may look for the numerous Warblers as they 

 pass ; but you must be alert, for they go silently and may 

 only stop for a day. The length of time that migrating 

 birds remain varies greatly with different seasons ; during 

 some autumns they linger, and then again, without any 

 apparent reason, they hurry along, arriving and departing 

 sometimes the same night, so that you will be unconscious 

 that they have passed at all. 



The most conspicuous summer residents that slip away 

 during September, are the Baltimore Orioles, Veeries, Chats, 

 Wood Thrushes, Flycatchers, Eose-breasted Grosbeaks, and 

 Bobolinks. The Chimney Swifts go in the wake of the 

 Swallows, and closely resemble them in habit if not in 

 anatomical structure. We miss these birds of the air sadly, 

 for their beautiful flights are the great feature of early 

 September. The voiceless brown Bobolinks are driven 

 from the shelter of the reeds and marsh-grasses by the 

 gunners, and in early evening, if you go down the lane, their 

 clinking, metallic call can be heard as they fly over. The 

 Wood Thrushes leave quietly ; gathering for a week or so 

 in low trees, at this season their only note is a dry chirp 

 resembling the shaking of peas in a sieve. The last of the 

 month the Chickadees emerge and become prominent, and 

 the Juncos arrive in straggling flocks. 



The Robins flock in great numbers, and occasionally give 

 a sweet, reminiscent song; the Bluebirds are legion and 

 bustle about, calling, as Burroughs says they do in autumn, 

 " Bermuda ! Bermuda ! " The Goldfinches are no longer 

 yellow, but you can always distinguish them by their dip- 

 ping flight. Purple Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds 

 are also gathering, and the Wrens are peeping in and out, 

 but they have forgotten how to scold. The scanty music 

 is furnished chiefly by the faithful Song Sparrow, the 



20 



