MARCH SUNSHINE 69 



of the thrush tribe beginning an early courtship. 

 Summer commences for them with the first real 

 sunny day the first day to soften the hard earth 

 and send life stirring among the many creeping 

 things that inhabit it. Leaves and blossom are, 

 no doubt, an amenity, but grubs are the thing. 

 To the blackbird, indeed, grubs make a summer 

 the rest are trimmings and pleasant flummery. 

 On the other hand, there are many birds to whom 

 summer is still far away. Hang out a broken 

 cocoanut or a lump of suet, and the tits will be 

 little less grateful than if the rigours of February 

 were still at their worst. Summer to them means 

 the sumptuous time when the myriads of the insect 

 world are about and laying eggs, when caterpillars 

 lurk in the folds of every leaf ready to be eaten, 

 and when five -sixths of the day may be devoted 

 to the gratification of a lively curiosity. And as 

 that time is not yet for many days, winter con- 

 tinues for the tits, no matter how the sun may 

 shine. So we still have them in gardens, about 

 stables, on the roads, and about houses whose 

 inhabitants know how to treat them. Nobody 

 but a professional humorist ever saw a tomtit look 

 dispirited, but to see the birds at their best hang 

 out for them a lump of suet suspended by a string. 

 While it lasts their whole life is an acrobatic 

 ecstacy ; when it is done they may be supposed 

 to give a few moments of sad thought to the 

 unanswerable question, Why does not suet grow 

 on every tree? Why titmice which never found 

 anything like it in Nature think cooked fat superb 

 feeding is a matter only less difficult of explanation 



