MAY. 115 



increasing violet colour of the Wild Hyacinth, here and there the 

 yellow petals of some lingering Primroses, and the flaring gold of the 

 Celandine. Wherever there is an open stretch of woodland these 

 harmonious blendings of colour cannot fail to attract attention and 

 admiration at this season of the year. 



I quite expected to find the Hawthorn in blossom to-day, and was 

 disappointed in not being able to include it in my list of flowers in 

 bloom The cold winds of the last few days have kept it back, but at 

 the first approach of warm weather the knotted blossom buds will soon 

 open, and the milk-white blossoms, hanging in exquisite festoons along 

 the hedgerows, reveal to us that Summer is near at hand. 



The cold N. and N.E winds to-day have kept many birds silent, 

 and the only feathered musicians heard were the following: Skylark, 

 Greater Whitethroat-how ^this bird hovers and flutters over the top 

 of some hedgerow when singing, as if suspended by wire -Nightingale, 

 Common Wren, Chiff Chaff, Tree Pipit, Song Thrush, Greenfinch, 

 Blackbird, Willow Warbler, Coal Tit, Hedge Sparrow, Chaffinch, 

 Cuckoo, and Great Tit. 



Found several Blackbirds' and Song Thrushes' nests with eggs, also 

 Yellow Bunting's, containing one egg, and Ring Dove's, with the usual 

 couple of milky-white eggs. These latter were easily visible through 

 the frail stick platform which serves as a nest. 



Watched a few Swallows and House Martins skimming across the 

 meadows, and some Lapwings on the arable land. 



Found some Song Thrush's eggs, evidently sucked by a Jay. This 

 is not the first time I have found this evidence of a feathered poacher 

 this Spring. 



Saw a Turtle Dove. This is, of course, a Summer visitor only to 

 the British Isles. First one seen this season. 



The Spotted and Pied Flycatchers should be here now. The 

 latter I have only found nesting on one occasion, and that was at 

 Aspley Heath, in Bedfordshire, some six or seven years ago. The 

 eggs of the two birds are entirely different, as also the plumage. The 

 Spotted species lays an egg bluish white in ground colour, blotched, 

 and spotted with light brown, whereas the Pied Flycatcher has a 

 greenish-blue egg. 



In plumage the Pied bird is very attractive, and cannot very well 

 be mistaken for any other English breeding bird, being black on the 

 tail and upper parts, and also on the wings, with white on the 



