END OF APRIL 61 
found three of them on the island. The birds 
were sitting very close, which meant that 
the eggs were almost hatched. (Sometimes 
when incubation is nearly completed the 
female duck will let you lft her off the nest 
if you wish to see her eggs, rather than move, 
though she is the wariest of birds at other 
times.) But of the smaller birds there were 
Ecancely any tobe seen: A stray chatiinch, 
a couple of full snipe which we put up, and 
one lonely swallow flitting along the water 
(the first we had seen this season), were all 
we could find. We were even glad enough to 
hear the pretty quick ‘ tee-tee-tee-tee-tee-tee-tee ’ 
of the hedge-sparrow. The tender little 
migrants were in shelter somewhere or other, 
ene iawvere voiceless: | Some’ had ‘not’: ‘yet 
arrived. But we knew that when the weather 
became warmer, and the trees and bushes 
afforded more protection, and insects came 
out from their hiding places, or fresh batches 
were hatched out dancing to the sun’s bright 
rays, then the birds would all be there and 
sally forth and sing their little songs again, and 
