Page:Bird Life Throughout the Year (Salter, 1913).djvu/262

184 into September. Hence it appears that birds which are not cut out for the part are tempted to emulate the flycatcher's art. Certain it is that in these still days we most commonly see the chaffinch or house sparrow dart upwards from its perch and attempt to catch a passing insect. Even starlings may be seen hawking for flies with the exact flight of the house-martin. On several occasions we have seen a number of .the small black-headed gulls quartering to and fro at a fair height, with short, quick turns and twists quite unlike their usual mode of flight. Were they merely playing, weaving the figures of an aerial dance, in the enjoyment of the finest and warmest weather of the summer, or were they essaying an insect diet? It was impossible to say.

It is perhaps the fact that weather conditions are usually ideal at the time which gives some of its popularity to the "little brown bird" to whose pursuit the opening days of September are consecrated. The grouse-moor must always be for the few, but "the man in the street" may have his few acres of partridge shooting. True, upon the first of September late broods are anything but strong upon the wing, while some young birds are scarcely past the "cheeper" stage. Later in the month the survivors have greatly improved in strength and condition. Exceptionally large coveys are probably seldom the produce of a single nest. Thus in one case known to us, the hen bird having been