S7GNS OF AUTUMN 223 



and an occasional blackcap. Though the willow- 

 wren and chiffchaff do not often sing at this 

 period, they are generally to be seen flitting rest- 

 lessly from tree to tree, uttering plaintive call-notes, 

 but all the while hunting for insects, and often 

 scattering the clouds of gnats which at this season 

 dance in the glades. The loud carols of the thrush 

 and blackbird have long since ceased ; and the 

 silence of the woods is only broken by a startled 

 jay or magpie, the tapping of a woodpecker, the 

 occasional song of a robin, or, at a less distance, 

 the harsh chirp of a cricket. 



The redbreast does not at this season appear to 

 pour forth his most passionate music. Perhaps he 

 is not inspired by the immediate promise of a nest. 

 When first he mounts the favourite perch in a tree 

 near some thicket, he utters the abrupt and joyous 

 rattling cry by which he is so readily distinguished 

 from our other native birds ; he flirts his tail and 

 bobs merrily. But no voice replies. A few dead 

 leaves rustle down from the tree. The gnats 

 continue their dances in the humid shade. Droop- 

 ing wild-flowers beneath are shedding tears of dew. 

 His contemplative eye seems to notice these 



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