14 ON eae COMMON. 
as if nothing had happened. Not to be so 
easily beaten, the man grasped the trunk again, 
and shook it harder than before; and this time. 
Collurio seemed to think the joke had been 
carried far enough, for he took wing, and flew 
to another part .of the Garden. ‘The bravado 
of the butcher-bird is great, but it is not un- 
limited. I saw him, one day, shuffling along a 
branch in a very nervous, unshrikely fashion, 
and was at a loss to account for his unusual de- 
meanor till I caught sight of a low-flying hawk 
sweeping over the tree. Every creature, no 
matter how brave, has some other creature to 
be afraid of; otherwise, how would the world 
get on? 
The advent of spring is usually announced 
during the first week of March, sometimes by 
the robins, sometimes by the bluebirds. The 
latter, it should be remarked, are an exception 
to the rule that our spring and autumn callers 
arrive and depart in the night. My impression 
is that their migrations are ordinarily accom- 
plished by daylight. At all events I have often 
seen them enter the Common, alight for a few 
minutes, and then start off again; while I have 
never known them to settle down for a visit of 
two or three days, in the manner of most other 
species. ‘This last peculiarity may be owing to 
the fact that the European sparrows treat them 
