222 
NATURE NOTES. 
“WITH THE BIRDS.” 
LL through September it seemed as though some evil 
fate had befallen our merry little feathered friends ! 
So glad of heart were they in the spring ! full of the 
joy of love and hope. Then followed the proud 
moment when the young ones were brought by the parent 
birds to be fed on our lawn on the softest and whitest of crumbs, 
as befitted their infant digestions. From winter frost to summer 
heat, the joyous bird life and song around us gladdened our 
hearts, and then, when domestic cares were ended, the little 
friends’ visits became fewer and shorter, and we feared for the 
busy merry little lives. But now, with the first touch of frost, 
with the falling leaves and autumn winds, here they come ! 
The old sunflowers look most untidy on their tall stems, and 
we had just issued the order for their demolition, having saved 
all the seed necessary, when chink ! chink ! chink ! and who 
would have the heart to study appearances, when they afford 
food and entertainment for our pretty chaffinches ? and there a 
little mite of a blue-tit suddenly settles on a stray plant of hemp, 
with its funny buzzing call, and, daintily helping itself to a seed, 
flies off to the railing on which to crack it. There was no doubt 
where the rooks were ; the hot spring and summer months 
brought a plague of white cockchafer grubs, which were eating 
the roots of the grass in the dried-up fields, and at last the 
farmers are beginning to realise the fact that the rooks are their 
best friends, in helping to rid them of this unexpected pest. 
Has anyone noticed the unwonted sweetness of the young 
robin’s song this autumn? For the last four or five weeks, in 
returning from late afternoon walks or drives, the beauty of the 
sunset has gained an added charm from the silvery notes that 
greeted us from every hedgerow and tree, reminding us of those 
beautiful spring evenings when the joy of hope was in the heart, 
and all the world was young. 
The fly-catchers, as usual, left us early ; we have so many 
of them, and watch them constantly, apparently throwing them- 
selves into the air to catch the coveted fly, and then returning to 
their perch ; so that for a week or two something seemed miss- 
ing. The trout stream that ripples down near the house has 
been sadly dry this summer ; perhaps that is wh}?^ we missed the 
water-ouzels that cheered us in the bright hours of winter sun- 
shine by their sweet trills ; I heard of them, however, down b}' 
the river, so doubtless they are safe. The nuthatches, too, Avho 
were frequent guests at our winter bird parties, entirely dis- 
appeared during the summer — possibly more attractive food 
tempted them elsewhere ; or do they migrate ? 
More and more do the swallows interest us every year, and 
this }'ear has been unusually adapted to the observation of out- 
door life. Many an hour I have sat amongst my bird friends — 
