October Nestlings
On the first or second of October four thrushes left their nest which was built in ivy on the wall of a cottage in Hert- fordshire. When the owner, of the cottage fed these yellow youngsters with various foods the hard-worked father sang a song of thanksgiving. What does the date matter to this most cheerful of birds? He sings his song in every month of the year and regards (like most good naturalists) autumn as a sort of spring. We are used to his autumnal songs and are not astonished when we see blue eggs in February, but it is rare, at any rate within my experience, to discover nestlings as late as October. However, the mushrooms are abnormally late, preferring this year's October before September, so why should not the thrush similarly obey the weather ? The latest swallow I have heard of had a nes tful of well-fledged young on September i9th, a terribly late date for birds that must migrate and over long distances.
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