246 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



same date came a few Redwings and Fieldfares, 

 the latter singing charmingly, often on the wing, 

 with a song somewhat resembling our Blackbird 

 in its soft and mellow tones. Then before the end 

 of the month came little parties of Shore Larks 

 and the large Greenland Wheatear, which uttered 

 a jerky, scratchy song and gave a pretty aerial 

 courtship, rather like that of a Whitethroat, but 

 with the sudden rise into the air of the Tree-Pipit. 

 On June 4th there was a big crack, and a pool 

 was formed at the upper end of the lake above the 

 town, and here came two pairs of the Long-tailed 

 Duck, the males uttering their musical cries, and 

 one pair of Red-throated Divers. From now on- 

 wards during the ensuing fortnight, with every day 

 of increasing warmth new species arrived, and at 

 once indulged in their individual efforts and songs 

 characteristic of the nuptial display. Fieldfares 

 were particularly gay, and indulged in mad chases 

 like our thrushes, and when once paired were very 

 bold and gallant, even driving off the ubiquitous 

 Ravens. On June 8th I heard a note new to me, 

 and, advancing amongst some scrub, saw a female 

 Bluethroat. She was shortly joined by two brilliant 

 males, their gorgeous throats shining like jewels 

 in the sun, and they went through a leaping court- 

 ship, something like a part of the " show " exhibited 

 by the common Robin. On June 6th some Iceland 

 Gulls, a Red-throated Pipit, and a party of Bramble 

 Finches passed, going north, and numbers of small 

 Northern Willow Warblers were noticed singing 

 in the low, stunted willow-bushes. So the advent 

 of migrants went on all through June, until the late- 

 comers, such as the Dotterel and the Buntings, had 



