Warblers in Italy and Greece. 247 



warbler, far on into the night. Neither Goldfinch 

 nor Linnet would be likely to sing at that time in 

 a thicket of thorn-bushes : those fairy creatures 

 would be playing in the cool air, or seeking the 

 water for a refreshing bath or draught. 



There are several other passages in Virgil which 

 invite both translation and discussion ; but I must 

 be content with giving one or two, and must 

 dispense with lengthy remarks on them. Every 

 Latin scholar knows the description, in the first 

 Georgic, of the birds flying shorewards before 

 the storm : 



Continue, ventis surgentibus, aut freta ponti 

 Incipiunt agitata tumescere et aridus altis 

 Montibus audiri fragor, aut resonantia longe 

 Litora misceri et nemorum increbrescere murmur. 

 Jam sibi turn curvis male temperat unda carinis, 

 Cum medio celeres revolant ex aequore mergi 

 Clamoremque ferunt ad litora, cumque marinae 

 In sicco ludunt fulicae, notasque paludes 

 Deserit atque altam supra volat ardea nubem. 1 



1 Georg. i. 356 foil. I quote this time Mr. R. D. Black- 

 mo re's admirable rhyming version. 



Ere yet the lowering storm breaks o'er the land 

 A sullen groundswell heaves along the strand, 

 On mountain heights dry snapping sounds are heard, 

 The booming shores bedrizzled are and blurred, 

 And soughs of wind sigh through the forest stirred. 



