130 IN PAIRING TIME 



in the earth ; for, at the foot of the hedgerow where 

 they flit, spring has already set her sign-manual, the 

 flat, round seal of the hedge-parsley that lies and 

 waits and may not rise, and yet is tender and green 

 and full of sap. Small beginnings, these the 

 Hedge-Sparrow and the hedge-parsley, but in their 

 train follow all the singing and the wooing of the 

 year, all the flowering and harvest of the earth. 



The initial portion of the Missel-Thrush's courtship 

 is conducted in the open. About the end of January 

 the family parties of the previous year break up, and 

 it is common at that time to see a couple of these 

 birds in a wide field with all the breadth of it 

 between them. Endless sympathetic tackings and 

 posturings, nevertheless, show that they are in 

 telepathic communication one with the other ; still, 

 half an hour may be required for the cock to pluck 

 up courage and venture on the lady. If a rival is 

 present, as is often the case, the process of courtship 

 becomes more intelligible to the onlooker ; for the 

 scuffle that ensues has its human analogue. Failing 

 the attendance of a rival, however, it is hard to 

 follow the ripening of affection ; for the birds continue 

 to tack hither and thither, drawing themselves up at 

 each halt as if to take the measure of an adversary 

 rather than to con the comely points of a lover. As 

 a rule, the end of it all is that the lady gathers herself 

 up with strange haste seeing that she has been so 

 long in making up her mind, and sets off on a 

 long flight, her suitor following respectfully in her 

 wake. From the first week of February, one cannot 

 approach within a field's length of their retreat but 

 the warning rattle is sounded. The cock is on 



