CHAPTER XI 



SIGNS OF AUTUMN 



ALONG the hedgerows, by brooks, and in 

 woods, the first breath of autumn whispers 

 a warning to the birds, and hushes them into 

 silence. The approaching change of season seems 

 to be anticipated even in July and early August, 

 when the old cuckoos and the swifts set out for the 

 South. Not long afterwards the swallows, warblers, 

 and other feathered visitors to our woodlands 

 prepare to follow, in search of that perpetual 

 summer for which they are constituted. The 

 swallows then rejoice audibly with their broods, 

 twittering merrily, sometimes three or four together, 

 especially at early morning, or when the sun shines 

 out on a dull day. The warblers, however, are 

 almost mute, save for the willow-wren, chiffchaff, 



