and one listened in vain for the delicate notes of the 

 true singers. True, robin and wren were not to be 

 wholly silenced, but beyond an occasional outburst 

 from these birds, we must content ourselves with 

 the yeoman service of greenfinch, yellow-hammer 

 and corn-bunting, and a rare reminder from the 

 whitethroat that he was still there, although seldom 

 audible. The stillness in the woods became oppres- 

 sive ; not less so because from time to time some 

 hidden bird shuffled uncomfortably in the dark 

 bushes, where it was nursing its sick body back to 

 health. I have seen few more ludicrously miserable 

 objects than a song- thrush which I encountered 

 perching on a low tree in an orchard at the end of 

 July. Only the short upper feathers of the wings 

 remained, and head and neck were almost bare, the 

 effect of the shortened wings and apparently 

 elongated neck and reduced head being to give 

 the bird the appearance of a battered young corn- 

 crake. From its incessant pecking and preening, 

 it was evident that the bird was in a state of violent 

 irritation. 



The sparrow is the principal representative of 

 bird - life in the fields at this time, where, col- 

 lected in large bands, it spends its time hanging 

 on to the stalks of the standing oats whilst it 

 detaches the grain, rising in grey sheets when the 

 boy comes round with his clapper. This bird is 

 the representative of the proletariate among birds. 

 When it moults, it moults on duty : it cannot 



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