THROUGH THE YEAR 137 



What is the meaning of this special charm in the 

 first thrush of the autumn ? It seems to be related 

 to this : When the thrushes' song, growing less each 

 day till they ceased in July, one felt that the vigour 

 of the year was done the great making part of the 

 summer over. In a way, part of July and the whole 

 of August and September are an exhausted period of 

 the year. This is true of the song of birds as it is 

 of life and work in the green world. There comes 

 a day in July when we must recognise that the 

 greatest acts and scenes in the drama of the summer 

 are over. After that it is darkening leaf, wilted stem ; 

 and in bird life it is largely silence except for the note 

 of ring doves, and, a little later, the pensive strain of 

 redbreasts. It is the decay of the year's vigour. 

 Now the song-thrush, striking up in October after 

 a silence of three months, touches another chord. 

 There is nothing used up or played out in these 

 notes of a wonderful sweetness ! This is a new song 

 by a bird that sings more than any other bird through 

 the vigour of the year, and through many of the 

 months that lead up to that vigour. With the clos- 

 ing of the thrush song, the vigour seemed over ; 

 with the striking up of the thrush again in autumn 

 Nature seemed once more preparing for a fresh year 

 of it. 



