AN OCTOBER DIARY. 373 



this way these pretty quail-heads also corae, " by spells," 

 as Miles has it — come, stay for a day, a week, or a month, 

 for aught I know, and then for a year or more none are 

 seen. These sea-side finches present nothing to particu- 

 larly mark them. They wander about the reeds, much 

 as a nuthatch scrambles over trees, often head down- 

 wards ; but generally stay so closely to the ground that 

 they escape notice. It is very probable that those I saw 

 to-day were migrating, and to-morrow may be resting 

 along the pleasant shores of the Chesapeake. Still, seen 

 80 far inland, they are essentially a bird out'of place, and 

 the more interesting on that account. They are fearless, 

 to a certain extent, or was it cunning ? A marsh-harrier 

 beat the bushes, just after I had passed, but not a bird 

 was disturbed by it. They saw him coming, and quickly 

 settled down in the grass. After he had gone, up they 

 came, scolding, I thought, at the disturbance of their 

 quiet, first by myself, and then by the hawk. 



Nature is always quiet at noon, unless there is a storm 

 approaching or prevailing. In recalling the fauna of 

 the county, whether furred, feathered, or finned, it mat- 

 ters not, the great majority of its members sleep with 

 greater regularity at noon than at midnight; except some 

 birds, and these take a noonday nap. The apparently 

 ever-active warblers, sparrows, and other little fellows 

 are often found asleep, and would be seen more fre- 

 quently than they are, were we a little less noisy as we 

 walked through the woods. Often have I seen a tit- 

 mouse with its feathers ruffled, until it looked like a 

 gall excrescence on an oak. Often, too, sparrows, with 



