THE GRAY DAYS OF BIRDS 197 



life, when it would be far safer for that very life 

 if they remained quiet. 



It is a delightful period this, a transition as 

 interesting as evanescent. This is the time when 

 instinct begins to be aided by intelligence, when 

 every hour accumulates fact upon fact, all helping 

 to co-ordinate action and desire on the part of the 

 young birds. 



No hint of migration has yet passed over the 

 land, and the quiet of summer still reigns; but 

 even as we say this a confused chuckling is heard; 

 this rises into a clatter of harsh voices, and a 

 small flock of blackbirds — ^two or three families — 

 pass overhead. The die is cast ! No matter how 

 hot may be the sunshine during succeeding days, 

 or how contented and thoughtless of the future the 

 birds may appear, there is a something which has 

 gone, and which can never return until another 

 cycle of seasons has passed. 



During this transition time some of our friends 

 are hardly recognisable; we may surprise the 

 scarlet tanager in a plumage which seems more 

 befitting a nonpareil bunting, — a regular "Jos- 

 eph's coat." The red of his head is half replaced 

 with a ring of green, and perhaps a splash of 

 the latter decorates the middle of his back. When 

 he flies the light shows through his wings in two 

 long narrow slits, where a pair of primaries are 

 lacking. It is a wise provision of Nature which 

 regulates the moulting sequence of his flight 



