THE HOME-COMING 69 



family takes the old nesting-site ; where the parents 

 survive, the young ones nest as near to the family 

 seat as may be. 



The summer range of these far-travelled little birds 

 is remarkedly small. We frequently find that a single 

 tree forms the whole summer world. Thus in the 

 middle of a long mountain-pass a single adventurous 

 rowan has established itself, and all day long on any 

 summer day its own pair of willow-wrens can be seen 

 flicking in and out its graceful foliage in their eternal 

 quest for insects to feed the little family in the heather 

 below. A mile farther on, another rowan has also its 

 own pair of this or some other species. Each hedge 

 that was the shambles of a butcher-bird last year will 

 have its red-backed tyrant again ; from each tree-top 

 that had its tree-pipit the bird will spring into the 

 air and float back on wide wings, singing its falling 

 song. 



It is a trite saying that the problem of how birds 

 return is still unsolved. We cannot even agree that 

 there is a seasonal wind that aids them in the first 

 requisite of a roughly cardinal direction. The most 

 nearly favourably wind, blindly followed, would be 

 apt to take our blackcaps to the middle of the Atlantic, 

 instead of among the groves of Ireland, or to leave 

 the whole of England unsupplied with nightingales. 

 With the utmost willingness of ^Eolus to help, a sense 

 of direction is required. There is probably an in- 

 herited knowledge of the main route to guide the 

 flock, especially in autumn, when the journey is away 

 from home, and the faculty of always knowing the 

 direction of home to aid the individual. 



Man with his compasses, his logarithms, his observa- 



