THE PAGEANT OF THE SEASONS 81 



wrens are chiming. Woodpeckers are at work boring 

 their nesting holes, and the curious drumming noise 

 which they seem to use as a call-note is constantly 

 made. Many nests of thrushes already contain eggs, 

 and robins are busy building underneath the hedges. 



COAL-TIT 



It is when the sun is sinking in the west all of this 

 wonderful awakening of spring is more fully seen. 

 The evening is still, the light wind is humming 

 through the trees very different to the moaning of a 

 winter day. In a distant rookery the birds can be 

 heard squabbling and talking ; doves are cooing more 

 peacefully in the darker portions of the wood. Black- 



