LIFE IN FOREIGN LANDS- 
415 
night the whistling sound of Ducks homeward bound 
strikes upon the ear. As the marshes dry up, so, in the 
same measure, their tenants depart. By the middle of 
March the southern wanderers begin to arrive. The 
Quail seeks the wheat-field; the Common Swallow skims 
the waving billows of ripening corn-fields; every bush is 
alive with songsters; and in the beginning of April the 
last of the northern emigrants take their departure. 
These gigantic places of assemblage for migratory 
birds, without doubt rank higher in importance than the 
mountain ranges of Southern Europe, though the latter 
are also much frequented by birds of passage. As soon 
as the “ passage ” commences numerous flocks of 
northern birds seek an asylum among the hanging woods 
and slopes, which, owing to the power of a southern sun, 
are free from snow even in the winter time, and thus find a 
resting-place as suitable as could be met with amongst 
the lagoons and swamps. The following winter guests 
are to be found in thousands amongst the rocks and 
precipices of the Sierra Nevada :—Redbreasts, Redstarts, 
Wood Pigeons, Chaffinches, Linnets, Blackbirds, Ring 
Ouzels, Song Thrushes, Redwings, Hedgesparrows, 
Buntings, Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Water Pipits, 
besides occasional Eagles, Falcons, and Owls. A detailed 
description of these mountains is unnecessary; and I 
think it will suffice if I tell the reader that they are very 
similar in character to our highlands, with the exception 
of the timber, which differs from that of the North,_ 
consisting principally of evergreens, ilex, oak, elm, and 
chestnut; the slopes are all covered with low scrub, 
rich in insect-life. Our little pet, the Redbreast, is so 
common in the “ Sierra” during the winter, that every 
good-sized bush is sure to be tenanted by one of them. 
