THE PROCESSION OF SPRING 237 



mercury — has a green-spiked flower ; and the other, 

 that forms a thick carpet of dark green heart-shaped 

 leaves, has a flower that shines Hke a golden star, and 

 is known to every one as the lesser celandine. 



So, in spite of cruel winds of March, life is feeling 

 its way on. Not these flowers alone, but coltsfoot, 

 barren strawberry, daffodil, and primrose come into 

 flower, and elder into leaf. 



The tiny chiflchaff", our first bird of spring, hangs ' ,M^' 

 like a humming-bird on shivering wings, taking insects 

 off the surface of the pool. The strange voice of the 

 wryneck sounds about the orchard trees. The country ,, ^ ,, _ 



folk call this the " snake-bird," because it scares the 

 schoolboys by hissing like a snake when they approach 

 its nest. The " cuckoo's mate " they call it too, though 

 " cuckoo's messenger " would be the better name, for it 

 always comes before the cuckoo. 



The chirrup of the chiflchaff is cheery but monoto- 

 nous, and goes to make more welcome the wild, bright 

 song of the willow-wren, which comes in at the open 

 windows a few mornings later on. 



Both these birds build on the ground. Their nests 

 are domed, and worked in, like the nests of field-mice, i 

 among the moss and grass of the pasture by the 

 woodside. Both line their nests with feathers; but 



■Cf. 



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