. Bird life throughout the year . zy channels in which they love to paddle,to lay their eggs in deserted rabbit-burrows in themidst of the warren. Their beautifully contrastedplumage of white, chestnut and green renders them anornament to the parts of the coast where they, arefound. Not less strange is the choice of the Stock Dove,which will often nest in a similar burrow at a depthof two or three feet, having as neighbour the Wheatear,which flicks its white tail and chacks noisily in everylittle hollow of the dunes. The plants of the sand-waste—sea-holly, houndstongue, sea bind-weed—arenot le
. Bird life throughout the year . zy channels in which they love to paddle,to lay their eggs in deserted rabbit-burrows in themidst of the warren. Their beautifully contrastedplumage of white, chestnut and green renders them anornament to the parts of the coast where they, arefound. Not less strange is the choice of the Stock Dove,which will often nest in a similar burrow at a depthof two or three feet, having as neighbour the Wheatear,which flicks its white tail and chacks noisily in everylittle hollow of the dunes. The plants of the sand-waste—sea-holly, houndstongue, sea bind-weed—arenot less characteristic than its birds ; even its insectsand land-shells will be found to be peculiar to itself. In spite of the wealth of beauty which it brings,July marks one of the turning points of the year, fortowards the end of the month one has a feeling thatsummer, if not exactly upon the wane, has at leastpassed its meridian. Daylight lingers less long and STOCK DOVES AND case in British Museum, South **&$ JULY 145 twilight shuts down more abruptly. Nature marksthe epoch in her calendar by the flowering of the hairbell, of the heather, and of the dwarf-furze whichlends a golden glow to the rough slopes from nowonwards till October. The first returning visitorsfrom the north—Dunlin and Sanderling, Whimbreland Turnstone—reach our shores, to wade in theshallows or pick up sand-hoppers from the masses ofdrifted weed. •.; At the very end of the month certain birds, as theChiffchaff and Willow Wren, commence to sing againin a quiet, subdued manner. The Chaffinch, too,begins his broken song of late summer, but an im-perfect echo of the rattling challenge which he threwto his mates in May. And the Robin on the rose-trelliswarbles a low and slender strain which has in it a fore-taste of autumn and of leafless boughs. It is thewriting upon the wall which tells of coming changeand of the passing of all that summer brings. SEA-FOWL HAUNTS. Sea-birds are
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1913
