176 
IN FLIGHT TIME 
SUMMER has gone so very gently that the only 
visible signs that the time of the falling leaf has come 
are the changes in the foliage of the woodlands, the 
gathering in of the crops, and the flight time of the 
birds. 
A rolling sea of mist ascends from the valleys, 
creeping up the sides of the hills to melt away as it 
reaches the uplands, where the sun is shining brightly 
above. Those who have not made the flight of birds 
a particular study might fancy these wood-covered 
hills, great stretches of uplands covered with the finest 
turf and sandy heaths, would not be the localities 
about which to watch for them at this time ; yet 
these are the very parts they pass over, and where 
some of them rest for a time, year after year. Divers* 
swimmers, and waders pass over from the north-east 
to the south-west and south, in the morning, at mid- 
day, and in the night-time. The birds that break 
their journey find in this line of country all they 
