"Now sober Autumn, with lack lustre eye,
Shakes with a chiding blast the yellow leaf,
And hears the woodman's song
And early sportsman's foot."
September is generally accounted the finest and most settled month in
the year. The mornings and evenings are cool, but possess a delightful
freshness, while the middle of the day is pleasantly warm and open.
Hence the well-known proverb:
"September blows soft till the fruit's in the loft."
The destruction of the partridge commences with this month, large coveys
of which may now be seen about the stubble fields, and in the corn, if
any be left standing. These birds get very shy towards the end of the
month, in consequence of being repeatedly fired at. Sportsmen,
therefore, prefer the early part of the season, before the birds get too
wild. Partridges, while the corn is standing, have a secure retreat from
their numerous enemies; but when the harvest is gathered in, they resort
in the day-time to groves and covers. At night, however, they return to
the stubble to avoid foxes and weasels, &c., and there nestle together.
The swallow now takes his departure for milder regions, and many other
of the small billed birds that feed on insects disappear when the cold
weather commences. The _throstle_, the _red-wing_, and the _fieldfare_,
which migrated in March, now return; and the _ring-ouzel_ arrives from
the Welsh and Scottish Alps to winter in more sheltered situations. All
these birds feed upon berries, of which there is a plentiful supply,
in our woods, during a great part of their stay. The throstle and the
red-wing are delicate eating. The Romans kept thousands of them together
in aviaries, and fed them with a sort of paste made of bruised figs and
flour, &c., to improve the delicacy and flavour of their flesh. These
aviaries were so contrived as to admit but little light; and every
object which might tend to remind them of their former liberty was
carefully kept out of sight, such as the fields, the woods, the birds,
or whatever might disturb the repose necessary for their improvement.
Under this management, these birds fattened to the great profit of their
proprietors, who sold them to Roman epicures for three _denarii_, or
about two shillings each of our money.
Towards the end of September the leaves of trees begin to put on their
autumnal dress. Mr. Stillingfleet remarks, that, about the 25th, the
leaves of the plane tree were tawny; of the hazel, yellow; of the oak,
yellowish green; of the sycamore, dirty brown; of the maple, pale
yellow; of the ash, a fine lemon-colour; of the elm, orange; of the
hawthorn, tawny yellow; of the cherry, red; of the horn-beam, bright
yellow; of the willow, still hoary. Yet, many of these tints cannot be
considered complete, in some seasons, till the middle or latter end of
October.
When the harvest is gathered in, the husbandman prepares for seed-time;
and the fields are again ploughed up for the winter corn, rye, and
wheat, which are sown in September and October. The entrances to
bee-hives are straightened, to prevent the access of wasps and other
pilferers.
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