22 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



we find numerous Thrushes searching for food : the 

 greater part of these birds have not been out of their 

 haunts since we saw them retire in the morning. A 

 flock of StarHngs, too, is busily employed feeding. If we 

 disturb them, they all rise together and make for the top- 

 most branches of the neighbouring trees, and there com- 

 mence a noisy clamour, the male birds giving forth their 

 delightful warbling notes. The Rooks are seen flying 

 backwards and forwards from the distant feeding ground 

 to the rookery with food for their mates or young : they 

 continue these operations till dusk. Far ofl" in the dis- 

 tant meadow we hear the Landrail, who but seldom 

 calls during the heat of the day. There, too, we hear the 

 Skylark singing his evening melody previous to alight- 

 ing in the grassy sward for the night ; while deep in the 

 recesses of the wood we hear the harsh cries of the Jay 

 and Magpie, the discordant crow of the male Pheasant, as 

 he marshals his harem around him, and the soft cooing 

 of the Ringdove ; for be it known all these birds are 

 very vociferous at night's gloomy approach. 



Perhaps the most interesting feature in the nightly 

 motions of the feathered tribe is their retiring to roost. 

 Amongst the earliest retiring birds are the Chaffinch and 

 Greenfinch, for just as the sun disappears these birds 

 seek the shelter of the yew or holly as a roosting-place. 

 The Willow Warbler sings well into the twilight, as also 

 do the Thrushes, Wrens, and Robins : the latter bird, by 

 the way, we shall hear long after twilight has merged into 

 night. All birds, or nearly all, just prior to roosting, 

 become very vociferous. We hear the startling call of 

 the Blackbird ; there the Starlings in noisy concert are 

 settling over their roosting-place ; yonder the Titmouse 

 is flitting hither and thither in search of a safe retreat. 

 Down the hedgerows the Sparrow-hawk is coursing in 



