278 Summer Studies of Birds and Books CHAP. 



I was unable to follow the birds farther, as I had 

 intended, or to cross to the coast of France at the 

 time they too might be crossing. Eeturning to the 

 Midlands, I found Swallows, Martins, and Pied Wag- 

 tails still here in large numbers ; the Wagtails 

 gathering in one field by the church, which they 

 always frequent at this time, and the Swallows 

 and Martins still crowding every sunny morning 

 on my house roof. But it is quite plain that they 

 are preparing to leave me ; their flights seem to grow 

 longer and longer, and if I did not follow them care- 

 fully with the glass I might fancy that they had 

 utterly vanished. But however far they fly, and 

 however high, and at this time they will sometimes 

 soar to a very great height, I shall presently see 

 them returning, and to-morrow morning the little 

 black figures will be flitting before my bedroom 

 window soon after the sun is up. The weather is 

 calm, heavy, and not inclement, and the air is full 

 of flies ; and as long as there is neither hard frost, nor 

 storm, nor a famine of insect food, we may expect 

 to see these lingering reminiscences of the summer. 1 



Yet I doubt whether we shall have them with us 



1 On 21st October, though nothing had been seen of them for 

 several days, I was astonished on waking to see them once more, 

 and in considerable numbers. They were all Martins ; and they 

 vanished to a bird while I was dressing. The thermometer at 

 the time was under 40. They were clearly a party of passing 

 travellers. 



