1 88 ANNALS OF BIRD LIFE. 



engaging are the Redpoles and Goldfinches on 

 the wild, weedy wastes and down the hedgerows. 

 In a trooping train the Goldfinches flit from stem 

 to stem of the tall, prickly thistles, scattering the 

 downy seeds to the winds as they go ; and the 

 Redpoles, in a compact little flock, drop down from 

 the hedges or the tree-tops, to pick out the tiny 

 seeds among the coarse herbage. In the autumn, 

 numbers of young Herons wander far from their 

 birth-place and stray up the rivers and brooks in 

 quest of fish. They are nothing near so wary as 

 their parents, and but very few survive all the 

 perils of their youth. The Gray Wagtails have 

 deserted the northern trout streams ; and from 

 the shores of the upland pools, the common 

 common Sandpiper has now taken its departure. Numbers 



Sandpiper r 



sSSmbfr 11 * these birds, however, appear to pass over our 

 islands during the month of October from more 

 northern haunts. 



Everywhere we turn all Nature, and more 

 especially bird life, seems at rest after the bustle 

 and excitement of spring and summer ; a dreamy 

 quietness prevails, and the few songsters that 

 warble now only seem to emphasize the tranquil- 

 lity of the autumn woods. Nut-brown October is 

 one of the pleasantest months in the whole year for 

 the naturalist, and from the beginning to the end 

 of this delightful period bird life is for ever on the 

 change. As the painted leaves fall to the earth 

 and accumulate in big brown and yellow drifts by 



