io8 By Leafy Ways. 



The migratory warblers winter in Africa ; some, like 

 the blackcap, in the far south ; others, such as the 

 nightingale, in the region near Abyssinia. Some even 

 stay in the South of Europe, while, in the case of the 

 chiffchaff, a few probably do not leave England at all. 



The chiffchaff is, indeed, a faithful friend ; a guest 

 who comes early and lingers late. Some birds desert 

 us on the threshold of the changing season almost 

 ere the first fall of the leaf; most of them before the 

 autumn days draw in and the twilight air has a touch 

 of frost in it. The cuckoo leads the way ; the swift 

 will almost overtake her on her passage south ; the 

 nightingale, the flycatcher, the redstart, and all the 

 rest of the light-winged host, follow in their train. 



But the note of the chiffchaff still resounds in the 

 deserted glades. When the October sunset is red 

 with the funeral pyre of the departed summer; when 

 the coral chains of the bryony and the golden leaves 

 of the maple light up the country lanes ; when 



' like living coals, the apples 

 Burn among the withering leaves ' 



still the chiffchaff lingers ; and far on in the year, in 

 the mournful silence of the leafless woodlands, you 

 may hear him still. He is the rearguard of the re- 

 tiring legions ; he is in the van of the returning army. 

 For when, in the early springtime, the copses have their 

 first tinge of tender green, he will come back to us a 

 humble, faithful, welcome visitor. 



