66 LIFE AND SPORT IN HAMPSHIRE 



wagtail, running and balancing on the grass a few 

 yards off, seemed almost substantial, and leisurely in 

 action. 



The wood warbler is the third and last of the 

 little group of English leaf warblers which I have 

 seen and heard in my garden during the autumn 

 migration. In different years I have watched the 

 chiff-chaff and the willow warbler there, and have 

 heard them both hi September song. The wood 

 warbler I never hoped to see in the garden at this 

 season. A fourth bird, which does not belong to 

 the group, but, through his size and movements, 

 seems to come near it, is the lesser whitethroat; 

 and I have seen him in the garden for a day or 

 two at the close of summer almost every year. It 

 would be impossible to improve upon the agility 

 and grace combined in the lesser whitethroat as, 

 restless, he slips through the twigs and branches. 

 But I fancy that, on the wing in pursuit of insects, 

 the three leaf warblers are slightly more frequent 

 and deft performers than he or any other summer 

 warbler is. And of this chiff-chaff, willow warbler, 

 and wood warbler group, the last seems to me if 

 but by a fine shade the deftest and the most con- 

 stant in aerial venture. 



I saw the wood warbler dart three or four times 

 in quick succession out of a rose bush to snap up 

 a few minute specks of insect life a yard above the 

 lawn. This reminded me somewhat of the grey 



