TUNING UP 57 



to business with great expedition. He does not 

 dispense with courtship by any means. On the 

 contrary, no small bird goes through a more 

 ostentatious love-making. But the lady is not coy ; 

 she quickly makes up her mind to accept a good 

 offer, and then the two proceed to nest -making 

 without an hour's delay. In the meantime they 

 are getting up steam on yellow crocuses. The 

 passion of the sparrow for yellow crocuses has 

 never been explained. It is not a simple matter 

 of gastatory taste, for if it were the question would 

 be simple. Most of my yellow crocuses have been 

 torn to bits, but most of the bits are lying about 

 still. And why are the white and purple flowers 

 left untouched? 



During all the winter I have obtained enter- 

 tainment by hanging up suet for the tits, but 

 have just learned late in the day that this sort 

 of amusement may be varied with no loss of sport. 

 A piece of fat suspended clear from a string is the 

 tits' own property. No other bird can make any- 

 thing of it, and only the robin tries. The other 

 day I was offered a very large lump of fat, and 

 as the tits' string was well plenished I hung this 

 fresh supply among the branches of a currant- 

 bush nailed against a wall. There was one ex- 

 cellent perch from which it could be assailed. 

 Blue tits were the first to find it out, but soon the 

 sparrows found that they, too, could share, and 

 from that moment the blue tits had hardly a chance. 

 The sparrows kept the treasure, and there were 

 seldom fewer than four of them waiting a turn on 

 the perch. The great tit alone among the smaller 



