The Birds' Calendar 



simple hearty strain, seeming to voice the salu- 

 tation of Spring herself, as expressed in the lines 

 of the poet 



" I come, I come ! ye have call'd me long ; 

 I come o'er the mountains with light and song ! " 



A bird's instinct in these matters is fully as 

 trustworthy as farmers' almanacs and astronomi- 

 cal data. 



March is a transition month, a sort of com- 

 posite photograph of winter and spring, when 

 nature is in that uneasy stir that betokens the 

 end of her long slumber. To call such a gruff 

 and blustering old fellow as March a coquet 

 seems incongruous ; yet he has a grim and 

 fickle humor that is a sort of masculine counter- 

 part to the more dainty trick of the feminine 

 mind. This characteristic and prevalent mood 

 of the month is quaintly suggested in the coup- 

 let that heads the month's record. March is 

 alluring and provoking. One instant he will 

 graciously present the most beguiling token of 

 benignant spring, which in the next he rudely 

 blows away with boisterous winds. 



The first sound of the song sparrow falls on 

 the senses like a bit of unexpected sunshine in 

 a stormy day, and raises the temperature of 



78 



