SPRING BIRD LIFE 15 



of March, the chaffinch has already begun : the 

 mavis prolongs a song, which has lost a little of its 

 gush, into July. In May all sing together. The 

 only bird that has the world all to itself for a brief 

 interval, is the missel-thrush. But, there is always 

 a dominant note ; a songster which gives a character 

 to the month. 



The missel-thrush for March, the mavis for April, 

 the blackbird for May, the chaffinch for June. Or, 

 if we borrow a charming calendar from the flowers 

 springing beneath: the missel- thrush with the 

 celandine, the song-thrush with the anemone, the 

 blackbird with the primrose and the violet ; the 

 shilfa with the wild hyacinth of the shades, the 

 May of the hedges, and the cuckoo-flower of the 

 meadows. 



The long-drawn-out call of the late-nesting 

 greenfinch comes from every leafing tree ; and 

 his musical trill, and "chum, chum, chum, chum" 

 is the undertone of the woods ; inaudible to the 

 inattentive, but ever present to those who have 

 their senses open. With the doubtful exception 

 of the chaffinch, the greenfinch is our commonest 

 bird. 



The colours of spring are quite as charming 

 as the songs. The russet becomes redder in the 



