CHILDREN OF THE SUN. 
VY PereeDay: somehow, in spite of all 
that the gay and gaudy, though some- 
what plebeian, chaffinch could do, the roadside 
hedge had seemed very empty and desolate. 
Over there, across the: daisy - spangled 
meadow ; over there, among the golden-leaved 
haze of tree-twigs, the spring birds were rush- 
ing in night and day almost. Swallows and 
house-martins weaved shooting, dizzy mazes in 
the air ; tiny, insect-like chiff-chaffs and willow- 
warblers sang aloud as they crawled acrobat- 
wise aloft, ridding the twigs of tiny insect 
pests that would else have destroyed the 
leaves. The deep ‘Cuck-coo!’ of a cuckoo 
near at hand filled the intervals; and out in 
the field, as it were fairies with tiny torches 
and gay lances, the redstarts flashed their 
fiery tails against the long, flirting tails of 
the yellow and blue-gray wagtails in the very 
faces of the cattle. 
No one had seen them come, these wonder- 
ful children of the sun, who a month or so 
ago had heard the thunder of the mighty 
Assouan Dam across old Mother Nile, 
and watched the big storks gather for, and 
start upon, their great journey to the land 
