THE RETURN OF THE 

 BIRDS 



To the birdlover the spring months are 

 fraught with particular interest, for then is 

 the season when the " birds come north 

 again," and long before midsummer is 

 reached the migrants have established them- 

 selves in our hedgerows and woods. 



Among these welcome visitors we find 

 some of the most famous songsters, such as 

 the nightingale and blackcap ; though in 

 Scotland we are not favoured with visits 

 from the former. Some of the voyagers do 

 not tarry with us, being bound for more 

 northern quarters ; others, again, come to 

 stay. 



Should spring-like conditions occur during 

 the end of February, the southern coasts 

 of England and Ireland receive the first 

 birds to return from their Continental winter 

 retreats. These birds are partial migrants, 

 and among them are found song-thrushes, 



37 



