TWO COMMON BIRDS 



and chiff-chaffs disappear from the hedgerows, 

 and birds like starlings, thrushes, blackbirds, 

 and other common kinds are seized with the 

 same fever. They all flow southward, only 

 in the case of the latter kinds we do not see 

 the end of the flood. While our own thrushes 

 and blackbirds are away their place is taken by 

 others, so we always have some about, and most 

 people never realise what has been taking place 

 around them, what comings and goings, what 

 Sittings and arrivals, there have been in the 

 garden. They know nothing of the weary 

 birds that have sheltered under the bushes 

 and in the cabbage patch, nor of the famished 

 hunger that drives the blackbird to join the 

 smaller birds at the feeding place where the 

 crumbs are thrown out in front of the window. 

 It may be asked how we know all this. For one 

 reason, because blackbirds and thrushes are 

 regularly seen with the flocks of other migrating 

 birds passing the lighthouses. In foggy weather 

 many birds lose their lives at the lighthouses, 

 dashing against the glass and then falling into 

 the sea, and the men on duty report both 

 thrushes and blackbirds as numerous among 

 the victims. Another way we know is by 

 marking the young birds. Very light aluminium 



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