BIRDS OF PASSAGE 
181 
winter* They are not at all disturbed by the cold, 
and their thin notes are often the only indications of 
life in the close Cedars and among the tall, naked 
branches of the Elms and Maples* The first arrivals 
will probably move farther south, but there are 
plenty in the northern woods to continue their 
whispered conversation in the changing foliage* A 
few Robins still linger about, but they have assumed 
the serious air of the advancing season* Should one 
be tempted by the unusual warmth to indulge in the 
liquid song of spring there is no response, and he 
soon desists, as if ashamed of his innocent mistake* 
The harsh voice of the Jay is made more conspicuous 
in the silence that seems to settle down with the 
falling leaves* The Crow, too, is calling* Both these 
hardy and noisy marauders will be content to remain 
throughout the winter. The blue sky, where recently 
the Swifts and Swallows darted after insect prey, 
seems to feel their absence* Solitary Herring Gulls 
pass from the inland waters to the increasing flocks 
on the lake, and toward the horizon a steady moving 
train of dots on the sky shows that the ducks are 
assembling for the long migration* The silent 
eagerness of passing flocks contrasts with the loud 
awakening songs of the year's morning, but the season 
of silent desertion is a bridge from spring to spring, 
and an earnest of the renewal of nature's perpetual 
youth* 
