PAIRING AND EARLY SONG 



355 



conspicuous in February and March, since they are not 

 forced to hunt for a new home. Pairing is equally con- 

 spicuous in February with the partridges, which are among 

 the most sedentary of our birds. Instead of the packs or 

 shrunken coveys in which 

 partridges are generally 

 seen as the winter goes on, 

 early in February we see 

 them start up from the 

 grass and stubble in pairs. 

 The time of the first 

 pairs varies not only ac- ^A^jr^^ 

 cording to the weather ^ 



of the season but to great tit 



some extent with the 



height and climate of the spot. On a ridge of hills the 

 partridges may still be living in packs in early February, 

 when they are paired in the fields lying below. From the 

 wheatfields in the lengthening evening twilight comes the 

 call of the cock partridge mounted upon a clod ; and this 

 note of spring mingles pleasantly with the song-thrush's 

 music, and the spring cry of the great tit in the apple-trees. 



This 'saw-sharpening' cry of the great tit is one of the 

 most typical spring notes, and one of the most distinctive of 

 the many different notes of the titmouse tribe. It is a shrill, 

 rasping double note, repeated with see-saw persistence more 

 and more regularly as spring draws near. It is not seldom 

 heard in January, but begins to be common as pairing-time 

 in February comes on. Bright sunny mornings will draw 

 forth the spring cry of the great tit, as of many other birds, 

 even after frosty nights ; but it is likeliest to be heard in calm 

 mild weather. The great tit calls so boldly that it is not 

 difficult to trace the crude song to the singer, which is easily 



