176 BIRDS 



were tempted into the garden because of some peas 

 which offered the birds a welcome change from 

 their usual bill of fare ; and not long after watching 

 these interesting visitors a Spotted Flycatcher 

 took up its station on an old post and started fly- 

 catching. 



The Cuckoo often flies over in the season of the 

 year and calls cheerily as he flies, and many other 

 bird friends come into the garden I love, and about 

 these I must give a fuller account at some future 

 time. 



I was, however, so intensely interested on one 

 occasion watching a male Redbreast feeding his 

 devoted little mate as she sat contentedly upon 

 her well-built nest, placed on a shelf in my summer 

 house, that I feel I must devote attention to this 

 particular pair of Robins, although my notebook 

 is crowded with reminders of many other items in 

 Nature's triumphal march. I should state that 

 the Robins have been for many years past regular 

 visitors to my garden during the Autumn, staying 

 all through the Winter and until the first green 

 flush of Spring. Indeed, one of the surest signs of 

 the approach of Autumn is the return of our 

 Robins and the utterance of the cheerful lyrics of 

 the male bird. Regularly each Autumn a pair of 

 Robins have made their appearance, and quite as 

 regularly they have taken their departure for some 

 favourite hedge-bank at Springtime. We always 



