154 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



accompanying babel, become greater and more nume- 

 rous, as the darkness increases, but whether this is a 

 natural development, or is caused by an owl flying 

 silently over the plantation, I am not quite sure, 

 though I incline to the former view. Night has 

 long fallen, before silence sinks upon that darker 

 patch in darkness, where so many hearts, burdened 

 with so few cares, are at rest. 



Next morning, whilst it is still moonlight, there 

 is a subdued sing-songing amongst the birds, but 

 by crawling, first on one's hands and knees, and then 

 flat, like a snake, one is able to get, gradually, into 

 the very centre of their sleeping-quarters, where, 

 sitting still, though one may create a little disturb- 

 ance at first, one soon ceases to be noticed. As 

 daylight dawns, there is some stretching of the 

 wings, and preening, and then comes an outburst of 

 song, which sinks, and then again rises, and so con- 

 tinues to fluctuate, though always rising, on the 

 whole, until the sound becomes a very din. At 

 length comes a first wave of motion, birds fluttering 

 from perch to perch, and bush to bush, then a 

 sudden roar of wings, as numbers fly out, a lull, and 

 then a great crescendo of song, another greater roar, 

 a still greater crescendo, and so on, roar upon roar, 

 crescendo on crescendo, as the tide of life streams 

 forth. The bushes where the birds went up are 

 completely empty, but soon they fill again, and the 

 same excited scene that preceded the last begins to 

 re-enact itself. Birds dash from their perches, hang 

 hovering in the air, with rapidly-vibrating wings, 

 perch again, again fly and flutter, the numbers ever 

 increasing, till the whole place seems to seethe. 



