26 ROUND THE YEAR 



One of her great toes was mortified (frost-bitten ?), but 

 she soon recovered, and at the time of writing was 

 described as very hearty.' 1 It is well known that 

 the inmates of dwellings buried deep in snow by 

 avalanches have survived for several weeks in more 

 than one case. 



BIRDS IN MID-WINTER. 



The snow has driven the Red-breasts towards the 

 habitations of man. Some of them are quite fearless, 

 and hop about within a few feet of a window at which 

 faces appear. Others are shy, and keep aloof except 

 when pressed by hunger. They are solitary birds, 

 and are never seen in flocks, rarely two together, 

 except when mating. The old proverb, " One bush 

 does not lodge two Red-breasts," is very fairly true. 

 Naturalists have studied with care the limited migra- 

 tions of the Red-breasts. They travel south in 

 autumn and return in spring, but in England or 

 Central Europe, Red-breasts are to be found through- 

 out the year. Some go and others take their place ; 

 some arrive and others depart. 



A few days ago I heard a Red-breast singing 

 lustily out of a leafless tree. There is no time of 

 year when they are silent, but in spring their sweet 

 and varied, though not powerful song, is drowned in 

 the chorus of newly-returned songsters. Even in 

 August, which White calls " the most mute month the 

 spring, summer, and autumn through," the Red-breast- 

 " tunes his merry note." Black-birds, Sky-larks, and 



1 Philosophical Transactions , No. 337, p. 265 (1713). 



