A WET AUTUMN. 175 



very delicately constituted, the insectivorous birds 

 especially so ; one such may be particularly 

 mentioned — namely, the common spotted fly- 

 catcher. 



Swifts, swallows, martins, fly-catchers, nightin- 

 gales, blackcaps, whitethroats, willow-wrens, reed- 

 warblers, and the sedge - warblers, have all been 

 sadly afflicted this season, at any rate in the district 

 from which I write. If you roam about the wood- 

 lands, the look - out is in no way more cheerful. 

 Even the jays have sought out retreats, the locality 

 of which is best known to themselves. Besides 

 this, it is not particularly safe to be in the woods 

 just now ; there is too much wreckage already, 

 both above and below, and very soon there will 

 be more. The truth of some lines of one of our 

 great poets has been strikingly verified of late ; 

 the vividness of the description may be an excuse 

 for quoting them : — 



" To-night the winds begin to rise 

 And roar, from yonder drooping day 

 The rooks are blown about the skies.'' 



That is exactly what the winds have been doing, 

 and doing it with a vengeance. The rooks have 



