256 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



is they do not tarry much longer after the hay is mown, 

 and the male but rarely sings after midsummer. I on one 

 occasion heard him singing the third week in September. 

 The fact of the bird remaining silent, and its hawk-like 

 appearance, causes it no doubt to be overlooked by most 

 people. But he seldom sees the lovely tints of autumn, 

 and never hears the wintry storm-wind's voice, for, im- 

 pelled by resistless impulse, he wings his way afar over 

 mountain, stream, and sea, to a land where the northern 

 blasts are not felt, and where a summer sun is shining in 

 a cloudless sky. 



