THE TIME OF YEAR. 211 



freely previously suddenly ceased singing about Decem- 

 ber 1 5, and remained silent for a month, and as suddenly 

 began singing again about January 1 5. Where they all 

 came from I cannot think, there seemed such an increase 

 in their numbers ; one wet morning in a small meadow 

 there were forty-five feeding in sight that could be easily 

 counted. They say the thrushes dig up and eat the 

 roots of the arum, yet they are not root-eaters. Possibly 

 it may have a medicinal effect ; the whole plant has very 

 strong properties, and is still much gathered, I suppose 

 for the herbalists. The root is set rather deep, quite a 

 dig with a pocket knife sometimes ; one would fancy it 

 was only those which had become accidentally exposed 

 that are eaten by the thrushes. I have never seen them 

 do it, and some further testimony would be acceptable. 

 The old naturalists said the bear on awakening from its 

 winter sleep dug up and ate the roots of the arum in 

 order to open the tube of the intestine which had flat- 

 tened together during hibernation. The blackbirds are 

 the thrushes' masters, and drive them from any morsel 

 they fancy. There is very little humanity among them : 

 one poor thrush had lost the joint of its leg, and in 

 order to pick up anything had to support itself with one 

 wing like a crutch. This bird was hunted from every 

 spot he chose to alight on ; no sooner did he enter the 

 garden than one of the stronger birds flew at him — ' so 

 misery is trodden on by many.' There was a drone-fly 

 on a sunny wall on January 20, the commonest of flies 

 in summer, quite a wonder then ; the same day a house- 

 sparrow was trying to sing, for they have a song as 

 well as a chirp ; on January 22 a tit was sharpening 

 his saw and the gnats were jumping up and down in 

 crowds — this up-and-down motion seems peculiar to 

 them and may-flies. Then the snowdrops flowered and 



Pi 



