Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/294

232 So much, then, for the seasonal change of relationship; let us now turn to particular cases and attempt to trace the condition which accompanies such change.

Many migrants in the spring seem to follow the course of the Severn during their journey northwards through Worcestershire; and where the river bends to the north-west at Lincombe Lock, there they leave it, or, rather, continue in a north-easterly direction which takes them across the southern end of Hartlebury Common. As I have already mentioned, this Common is overgrown with gorse, heather, and ling, and scattered here and there are a number of dwarf oak-trees and small elder-bushes. The situation is therefore an ideal one for the smaller migrants to rest for a brief time, and, from the point of view of the observer, very suitable because it is open and the movements of the birds can be traced for some distance. Turtle Doves pass over at a great height, or skim across a few feet above the gorse; Redstarts settle for a few minutes and then disappear; Tree-Pipits, Whinchats, and Willow-Warblers pass from tree to tree or flit from bush to bush—and all in a north-easterly direction. They do not sing, they are restless, and, judging by their behaviour, they are anxious to conceal their presence, not to make it known. Yet we know that when they reach their destination, as presently they will, all this will change; that each of them will employ every means at its disposal to make itself conspicuous; and that