4 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



haunts frequented at one season are deserted at 

 another. Most birds are migratory ; even if they 

 do not quit our islands entirely, a very consider- 

 able journey is undertaken by many birds from 

 one district to another. Thus some species winter 

 on our low-lying shores and breed in the far 

 north of Scotland ; others frequent the coasts in 

 winter and repair to the moors in summer ; some 

 are more arboreal and solitude-loving in summer, 

 more homely in winter ; with others a strongly 

 marked movement takes place, and the wilder 

 country is deserted for more cultivated districts at 

 that period. Again, even among our commonest 

 birds, a great change of habitat is noticeable 

 according to season. In winter some of these 

 species habitually frequent the open fields which 

 in summer are not usually found upon them ; 

 others desert these places and betake themselves 

 to .shrubberies and woods. All these little facts 

 must be borne in mind by the reader of the 

 following pages, who will find them alluded to 

 in greater detail as the several species are dealt 

 with. So far, therefore, as practicable I have 

 made the birds that breed in each locality, or 

 those that frequent them regularly in winter, the 

 most representative species. But then there are 

 many birds that dwell in several of these haunts. 

 For instance, we may find the Blackbird in the 

 shrubbery, the hedgerow, the highway, or the 

 garden, or even on the moors ; we may note the 

 Robin in the woods and the Magpie in the 

 orchard, the Jay in the garden and the Willow 

 Wren in the lanes and coppices. It is absolutely 

 impossible to lay down a hard-and-fast rule for 

 the habitat of many species ; but it may be re- 



