October 



long-drawn whistle, which is perhaps his chief attain- 

 ment in the musical art ; then follows the wiry wheeze 

 of the grasshopper ; afterwards, just enough of a 

 throstle's note to delude the hearer into the belief that 

 ' he could an' if he would ' the whole punctuated 

 by little self-satisfied clicks and chuckles and abortive 

 warblings, not to forget the ever-recurring hard, 

 bubbling note, as though he were stringing sounds 

 like beads, and they struck one another glassily as 

 they fell in quick succession one upon another. 



Magpies are social at all seasons, yet at this time 

 they seemed to be more so than ever. I never 

 walked by the Mersey without seeing them, and 

 upon one occasion counted as many as thirteen in 

 one flock, and nine in another five minutes later. 

 But, then, we can show a score of nests in a mile 

 walk, and the birds are not molested as they would 

 be over the Cheshire border, where there is cover 

 to protect. 



Skylarks flitted by twos and threes about the 

 fields in the dull days, or mounted to sing on the 

 sunny ones, at which times the roving pipits followed 

 them up into the air, emitting sundry lark-like notes, 

 and manifesting a certain familiarity with their old 

 ornithological associates, in spite of the fact that 

 more recent classification has bracketed them the 

 pipits with the wagtails as nearest of kin. 



Upon an early snap of frost a large body of 

 lapwings came down into our grass fields for a few 

 days at the beginning of the month, and then 



35 



