THE FAERY YEAR 



rings through the woods in March and April ; and 

 scarcely his whetstone note ; he is content with one 

 or two short finchy sounds. The cole titmouse also 

 has a whetstone note, if not quite such a notable one, 

 which he has been practising. This note is never 

 given deliberately whilst the bird is perched. He 

 does not stop to call. He flings it out as he flitters 

 from twig to twig. The seeds and nuts on which 

 the cole titmouse fed freely in autumn are scarce 

 now. The beech mast has all gone, or is covered 

 with dead leaves. Therefore the titmouse is on 

 insect diet. His food has to be searched for among 

 the moss and lichen, and in the fissures of the bark 

 of trees. His midget movements on, round, under 

 the branches, in curious search for tiny grubs, are 

 exquisite in skill and finish. Various birds which 

 seek their grubs in such spots have the power to 

 hover under a branch for a few seconds to seize a 

 mite of food, otherwise out of reach. The tree 

 creeper and the nuthatch need not hover, as they 

 can walk round a branch, though I once saw the 

 nuthatch hover among the Netley Abbey ruined 

 walls. But the golden-crested wren, the lesser white- 

 throat, the redbreast, the wood warbler, and two or 

 three of the titmice, such as the cole titmouse, hover 

 rather than hang downward when the grub is on the 

 under side of a thick branch. Even a missel thrush, 

 in a grotesque way, will sometimes hang on the wing 

 under a big branch to seize some morsel of food. 



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