54 BIRDS OF THE WAVE AND WOODLAND 



For the months there is the fieldfare for January, the rook 

 for February, the thrush for March, the swallow for April, 

 the nightingale for May, the clove for June, the king- 

 fisher for July, the grouse for August, the partridge for 

 September, the pheasant for October, the woodcock for 

 November, and " the wren, the wren, the king o' the birds," 

 for December. 



" A JJ^/ii/cr such as zvhcii birds die 



In tlic deep forests^ 



Shelley. 



" Now various birds in melting concert sing, 

 And hail the beauty of the opening Spring. 



Savage. 



The fieldfares comes to us late in the year, and in January, 

 if the weather be very hard, are often the most conspicuous 

 wild birds of the month. Most people mistake them for 

 missel-thrushes, as they travel about in companies over the 

 snow-covered fields, ransacking the hedges in such methodical 

 fashion for the hawthorn berries, or scattering over open 

 patches of ground in quest of seeds or insects. This mistake, 

 doubtless, saves many of their lives, for those who would not 

 shoot our native missel-thrushes in the snow, might have no 

 compunction in bagging the strangers from abroad, who bring 



