164 BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



nicotiana at dusk, the corncrake has become 

 silent, and the nightjar no longer "churrs," though 

 we may surprise it some warm day basking and dusting 

 like a barn-door fowl in the middle of the sandy path 

 which leads to the heath. 



August sees the ripening of the first hedge-row 

 fruits and berries, bringing to the birds a foretaste of 

 the rich harvest which is to follow. Amongst the 

 first come the scarlet clusters of the mountain-ash, 

 so beloved of thrush and blackbird that the whole 

 crop is sometimes cleared off within a week. The 

 Mistle Thrush, largest and boldest of his.kind, usually 

 comes in for the lion's share. See him as he balances 

 with difficulty by the help of wings and tail, reaching 

 greedily hither and thither after the ruddy fruit, even 

 venturing in quest of it into town gardens and close 

 to the windows of houses, strewing the ground 

 beneath the tree with berries dropped in his haste. 

 It is the flocking of the mistle-thrushes in late summer 

 which leads country observers to write to the papers 

 from time to time reporting an unusually early arrival 

 of the fieldfare. Both are large thrushes, which have 

 a harsh note and show the white undersides of their 

 wings as they fly — hence the error. 



The interest of the stout-billed Hawfinch in fruits 

 and berries of this kind is of a different nature ; when 

 seen visiting the mountain-ash or cotoneaster he is in 

 quest of the seed-kernels which he obtains by crushing 



