MAGPIE FIELDS 161 



very early to the neighbourhood of London, and before 

 the time of their appearance in other districts. The 

 note is heard before they are seen ; the foliage of the 

 shrubberies, still thick, though changing colour, conceal- 

 ing them. Presently, when the trees are bare, with the 

 exception of a few oaks, they have disappeared, passing 

 on towards the west. The fieldfares, too, as I have 

 previously observed, do not stay. But missel-thrushes 

 seem more numerous near town than in the country. 



Every mild day in November the thrushes sing ; there 

 are meadows where one may be certain to hear the song- 

 thrush. In the dip or valley at Long Ditton there are 

 several meadows well timbered with elm, which are the 

 favourite resorts of thrushes, and their song may be 

 heard just there in the depth of winter, when it would 

 be possible to go a long distance on the higher ground 

 without hearing one. If you hear the note of the song- 

 thrush during frost it is sure to rain within a few hours ; 

 it is the first sign of the weather breaking up. 



Another autumn sign is the packing (in a sense) of the 

 moorhens. During the summer the numerous brooks 

 and ponds about town are apparently partially deserted 

 by these birds ; at least they are not to be seen by 

 casual wayfarers. But directly the winter gets colder 

 they gather together in the old familiar places, and five 

 or six, or even more, come out at once to feed in the 

 meadows or on the lawns by the water. 



Green plovers, or peewits, come in small flocks to the 

 fields recently ploughed ; sometimes scarcely a gunshot 

 from the walls of the villas. The tiny golden- crested 

 wrens are comparatively numerous near town the heaths 

 with their bramble thickets doubtless suit them ; so soon 

 as the leaves fall they may often be seen. 



