Birds by Land and Sea 



the river, quartering the hedgerows in the adjoining 

 fields, and flying close to the ground in the dull, 

 still days ; or getting up to the wind when there was 

 any movement in the air, with the hovering, poising, 

 and sudden stoop characteristic of this bird. 



The month closed without any sign of the arrival 

 of the fieldfare and redwing from the north, which 

 fact, if the wisdom of the countryside might be 

 trusted, augured a mild winter for us. 



40 



