8 



SPRING 



cated to be doubted ; and with the March cuckoo, or some- 

 times even a few days before it, comes sometimes the 

 cuckoo's mate, or wryneck. By the latter half of March the 

 trees harbour enough reviving insects to provide the wry- 

 neck with a fair living if the weather is bright and mild ; but 

 one can only conjecture how exceptionally early cuckoos 

 pick up a living, before the first of their favourite hairy 

 caterpillars— the woolly bears and drinkers — emerge from 

 hibernation and creep among the April grass. 



