202 STRA Y FEA THERS FROM MANY BIRDS. 



fragrant hawthorn. In the early days of autumn the 

 Greenfinch and the Yellow Bunting are often heard to 

 sing ; but these birds moult late, and, as far as I can 

 learn, never regain their song after changing their plu- 

 mage until the following spring. In the same way, but 

 much more rarely, the Chaffinch may be heard to sing ; 

 but the Willow Wren regains his music after moulting 

 and sings most frequently until he departs for Africa. 



Of all the birds that warble in the autumn there are 

 none certainly so musical as the Robin, and his song, 

 with that of the Wren and the Hedge Sparrow, is most 

 in harmony with the season. The plaintive nature of his 

 notes make them indescribably beautiful. They never 

 sound out of harmony with the autumnal sadness, like 

 the songs of the other birds so often do. These sweet 

 and varied songs are best associated with the year in its 

 vernal freshness, or as hymns of triumph in the glorious 

 summer, not as requiems and dirges for nature's death. 

 Nevertheless these few autumnal songs are welcome 

 to the naturalist and lend a sense of life to the almost 

 deserted woods and groves. As such we highly prize 

 them, and linger long to listen to their sweetness, now 

 that we can enjoy each note and each variation distinctly 

 from the crash of melody which so often mingles with 

 them in the spring and summer. 



