MIGRATION IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 295 



Bunting sits and sings his oft-repeated refrain 

 from the hedgerows, now gay here and there 

 with white masses of bloom on the blackthorns ; 

 the Greenfinch twitters from the shrubberies ; the 

 Cirl Bunting regains his voice ; the Thrush, 

 Blackbird, and Missel Thrush may be heard all 

 the livelong day; and the Robin, Wren, Hedge 

 Sparrow, Chaffinch, and Starling are literally 

 overflowing with music. By the middle of the 

 month we may be on the look-out for the first 

 venturesome summer migrants. Rarely is our 

 quest in vain ; for generally an odd Wheatear 

 or Chiffchaff, or less frequently a Sand Martin, 

 will reward our search. By the end of the 

 month the Black Redstart has disappeared from 

 the old sheltered haunts below the cliffs ; and 

 many of our winter birds almost imperceptibly 

 grow fewer and fewer. The Divers and Grebes pass 

 northwards ; the Fieldfares and Redwings vanish, 

 we scarcely know when or how, as the month 

 ebbs away. Some time in March many birds 

 begin nesting Missel Thrushes, Song Thrushes, 

 Blackbirds, House Sparrows, Titmice, Hedge 

 Sparrows, Chaffinches, Robins, and so on. April 

 is one of our busiest months among the birds. 



