ioo BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



trees on the edge of the heath, alighting sometimes on 

 a branch where it sits lengthways, producing the 

 strange churring noise which has earned for it in some 

 places the name of " spinning wheel," and which may 

 be compared to the distant sound of a lawn-mower. 

 With this mysterious bird of the twilight ends our list 

 of the regular summer migrants, or those which may 

 be looked for with certainty. That dashing little 

 falcon, the long-winged Hobby, comes to nest in a 

 few favoured woodlands, arriving in the latter half 

 of the month. Sometimes, but not every year, we 

 hear the liquid three-fold whistle of the Quail, coming 

 from a field of springing corn. Probably a May never 

 passes in which a few Hoopoes do not land upon our 

 shores to strut and bow and spread their fan-like 

 crests, while a brightly-plumaged Oriole flashes, all 

 gold and black, from treee to tree. But such visitors 

 are too conspicuous to allow of their remaining un- 

 molested. If permitted to breed, they would no 

 doubt return with their progeny in increasing numbers 

 from year to year. It is noticeable that the migrants 

 which are latest to appear, such as the flycatcher and 

 shrike, begin to nest within a few days of their arrival, 

 while the earlier ones proceed in a much more leisurely 

 manner. A feature of the month is the reappearance 

 of some of those bird associations which are merely 

 broken up for the nesting season. For the Long- 

 tailed Tits, as soon as they have left the nest, begin 



