AMONG THE BIRDS IN SUMMER. 123 



numbers of young Blackbirds, in the rich brown 

 and black dress of immaturity, may be seen ; and 

 young Robins, in the speckled dress of youth, are 

 heard making occasional attempts at song. The 

 Red Grouse are strong on the wing, provided the 

 season has been a favourable one, by the 4th of 

 August ; and this species soon begins to pack 

 after the shooting on the I2th commences. 

 August is the great turning-point of the year 

 among the birds, and in a hundred ways they 

 foretell the advent of the great change of season 

 slowly approaching. The earliest arrival among 

 the hordes of northern waders that come south- 

 wards with the sun is the Knot. The young 

 birds, with one or two old and possibly non- August? 1 * 1 

 breeding birds, are the first to arrive on the mud- 

 flats, many of them with the nestling down ad- 

 hering to parts of their plumage. Young Curlews 

 also quit their birth-places towards the end of 

 summer, and gather on the low-lying coasts and 

 estuaries. The Swifts, having now safely reared Young 



... r i > t 1 Swifts leave ' 



their broods, may often be seen feeding the young 26th August, 

 birds high up in the air. These birds are pre- 

 paring for their southern flight. 



Summer is the time when bird life sees its 

 greatest variety, change, and activity ; and the 

 long days, and short, warm nights, we are able to 

 spend among the birds in quiet contemplation of 

 their little ways and secrets, may be justly marked 

 as red-letter ones in the calendar of the naturalist. 



