76 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



warbler reeling off his fishing-reel song, and if you 

 keep hidden, very quiet, and restraining, with Spar- 

 tan-like fortitude, any exclamation when the horrible 

 midges and stout flies bite you, you may possibly 

 see the bird itself. 



There is a market for birds' nests and eggs ; and 

 if people want them and are willing to pay for them, 

 they can have as many so-called British specimens 

 from the Continent as they choose to buy. Ask 

 any field-naturalist how long he hunted for the nests 

 of the grasshopper-warbler, and the fire-eyed chat 

 or Dartford warbler so called because the first 

 specimen of this prince of hidelings was procured at 

 that place, and he will surprise you by his answer. 



Summer is over, and the migrants that nested in 

 the glad summer-time have gone back to where 

 they came from. Winter is drawing near, for the 

 schoolboys' " blue-backed game-birds," the fieldfares 

 or bluefelts, have arrived. The leaves are nearly 

 off the hedges, but they make a brave show with the 

 berries, which, when they get thoroughly frost- 

 ripened, the birds will eat. Some ripen much 

 faster than others, so that the food-supply comes in 

 rotation. Some rough fruits and berries can only 



