FJIR MJIVS OF FeB<RJJARr 39 



grey, that escaped by some means from the general 

 confiscation, will rank the lower among the treasures of 

 his cabinet for that little affair in the rookery ? 



The return of the birds of passage is after all the 

 plainest sign of spring. When she sends back the 

 swallow we feel that Nature has touched a firmer, 

 stronger note. The impatient fancy of the naturalist 

 paints in every flying figure on the April sky the first 

 returning swallow. 



A few birds of passage have already reached their 

 summer quarters. The closing days of March brought 

 the first chiffchafFs. Now, the woods are full of them. 

 Everywhere among the tree-tops sounds the chiffchafFs 

 cheery call. He is but a tiny bird ; only next in size to 

 the diminutive goldcrest and his rarer fire-crowned 

 cousin. But he has a far-reaching voice, that now is 

 plain to hear above the mingled chorus of the woodland. 

 The whinchat and the wheatear are back in their old 

 haunts on the hill. The song of the willow-warbler 

 floats softly from his rest among the elm-tops, and in 

 the copses sounds already the tuneful whistle of the 

 blackcap. 



