SONGS AND REVELS 



babel of cawing before deciding where to breakfast, and 

 several foolish pairs pretend to repair their nests. Then 

 the thrush sings, his ringing notes taking the mind back 

 to the days of white violets. A chiffchaff cries his two 

 notes with the zest of a March day. Over a stubble the 

 larks course and court, soar and sing in rivalry. And in 

 a walnut-tree a band of starlings greets the day with 

 mysterious incantations, warbling and whistling in 

 chorus for an hour on end. 



IN a land of farms, like Essex, we may walk for miles 

 across country by following little tracks by 

 Sentries the hedgerows, and to do so is to realize 

 of the the marvellous abundance of bird life in 



Hedge Autumn. All the way you hear eager alarm- 

 notes, and the rustling of affrighted wings, 

 like the noise of wind in a poplar tree, as the flocks of 

 sparrows and finches, titmice and many others drift 

 away down the hedge before you. The blackbird is 

 sentinel-in-chief, well supported by the wary mistle- 

 thrush, who flies from the hawthorn with harshly- 

 grating notes of annoyance; wrens scold at you for a 

 trespasser, jays screech in execration, and that ever- 

 vigilant sentry, the little owl, barks like a watch-dog. 

 Only the larks, if you put them up as you take a path 

 across a stubble, greet you with a song; but this may 

 be in the nature of a battle-cry. 



PROTECTIVE measures for goldfinches seem to have 



borne fruit, and merry-hearted flocks make 



Proud a typical picture of the season as they quest 



Tailor eternally for thistle-seeds. They have 



peculiar claims for protection, because of 



