BRITISH WARBLERS 
not so much following the flock, but rather taking a line of 
their own whenever an occasion arises. Thus you will find 
them in fields of beans or potatoes, appearing on the top of 
a plant one minute, then disappearing, only to appear again 
fifty yards or so away; and again, you will see them in 
hedgerows or in the taller trees, anxious to join in any game 
or fight, for food is plentiful and family cares have ceased. 
-In August, during the moulting period, they are much 
quieter, only singing occasionally, but in September they, 
together with the young birds, commence to sing again. Now 
also, they begin to think of migrating, gradually decreasing 
in numbers during the month, so that by the first week in 
October few are left. 
A second brood is sometimes reared in the same season. 
Whether this is due to the first brood being destroyed I 
cannot say, but I have frequently seen the female tending 
her young in August. 
During the last autumn days that they spend with us 
they are still active and full of vigour, singing a good deal, 
and ready to play with one another, or, indeed, with any 
other bird that happens to cross their path. Abundance 
of food and no work is probably the cause of this burst of 
activity ; in addition to this they have finished their moult, 
and are therefore in the best of health. 
During their games they sit facing on opposite branches 
with quivering wings, then, darting at one another, they 
play in the air, their bills making the usual clicking noise. 
Tits come in for much teasing, and I have been amused to 
notice that the Blue Tit is held in much higher esteem than 
the other members of the family. A pretty sight it is to 
see one of them playing with a Blue Tit; the Tit clinging 
on to an upright sprig, looks down with contempt at the 
Chiff-chaft a foot or so below, clinging to the same sprig 
and looking up, trying to make up his mind to attack. 
Interesting as everything pertaining to the life of this 
species is, there is one distinctive characteristic which is 
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