220 WILD BIRDS 



lustre, of his breast, present the chaffinch to me, 

 March after March, for March seems the chaffinch 

 month as a thing perfect in beauty. 



We cannot grow used to the perfection of 

 chaffinches. 



In May and June we may begin to overlook them 

 in the large competition of bird life ; but in the 

 early days of March we find him again, fresh, lovely 

 as ever. 



At its best, in May and early June, a chaffinch's 

 song is better than it is in March. Yet, as melody 

 or music pure and simple, I doubt whether the 

 chaffinch's ripple has merit to speak of. It is not 

 the purely musical part of us that is stirred by the 

 song : take away the charming idea of the bird, 

 the sight of it ; take away its environment and the 

 delicious sensation of the early spring mornings, 

 when it first breaks into its ripple, and little of worth 

 remains. It could then wake no emotion in the 

 listener. 



DUNLINS AGAIN 



The low, windy islet is a favourite spot of mi 

 in early spring. In three out of four years I ha- 

 gone there then and watched the wheeling of those 

 wonder birds the dunlins. One May I saw the 

 sandpiper passing through the islet on its way to 

 nesting grounds further north ; another year several 

 terns were playing with their consummate grace 

 over its beach for a few days, great white butterflies 

 of the sea. With its whole southern shore steeped 



s 



