JANUARY. 7 



The Bullfinches have taken all the berries off my Privet hedge; 

 they are very partial to these. 



The Rooks pass early morning and just before dusk, from a 

 Rookery about half a mile distant, over my house, always in the same 

 direction and about the same time. There is plenty of suitable 

 dibbing-ground near their homesteads; why do they prefer to roam 

 so far away? 



C4th. Miserable Scotch misty morning, but the Skylark singing 

 very deliciously in spite of the unpropitious elements. This is the 

 first time I have heard a Lark singing for some weeks. I saw two or 

 three pairs chasing each other over the fallows; the note uttered 

 as they do this is very musical and clear ringing. 



The Starlings have not been chattering lately, but the Hedge 

 Sparrow sings daily, and, of course, the Robin. 



The Mistle Thrush is singing, it is one of the earliest birds to 

 resume its song. It does not possess much variation, but it is 

 astonishing how far its notes travel. At this season, too, one notices 

 with pleasure the flocks of Fieldfares and Starlings dibbing about on 

 the grass lands. It always strikes me as curious that these Winter 

 visitors from Norway, the Fieldfares, should be so silent during their 

 sojourn amongst us. How delightful it would be if they treated us to 

 the song they pour out in the Pine Forests of picturesque Norway. 

 Although the frost has been, and is still severe, one has not to search 

 long before unearthing various Slugs and Spiders, only waiting for the 

 breath of Spring before making their appearance well above ground. 

 The Bulbs are pushing through quickly, the Honeysuckle is unrolling 

 very fast, and the new shoots on various plants makes one think of the 

 glorious Springtime! The rich brown earth (that is, where the 

 farmer tills his land properly, and has had it ploughed up in deep 

 furrows) seems to be benefiting greatly from the driving wind, and a 

 noisy Chaffinch or two disporting themselves on the summits of the 

 upturned clods make a picture which no artist could paint with justice. 

 A score of Rooks strut over the brown earth, searching diligently for 

 the obnoxious grubs, which lay harbouring underground, and they also 

 present a pretty study, such as could not be put on canvas realistically. 



25th. It may be interesting to jot down "right now," as the 

 Americans say, some of the trees and shrubs which even at this barren 

 season are delicate in form and colour. Those which occur to me as 

 I write are: -Golden Yews, Hollies, Silver or Paper Birch, Golden or 

 Cardinal Willows, Dogwood, Sweet Briar, Pyracantha, Pernettyas, 



