2 MY NATURE NOTEBOOK. 



midst of frost and snow ; and the year's lambs were 

 ushered, bleating, into a world of blizzards and 

 icicles. So, with better luck of which the first days 

 of the new year gave generous promise it seemed 

 that 1902 might reach the Ides of March, as fateful 

 in our springs as in Caesar's fortunes, well ahead of 

 the record of 1901. 



EXHAUSTED SUPPLIES. 



Those who decorate churches for Christmas in the 

 country have the best means of judging what kind 

 of a winter it has been so far, for the holly berries 

 are the emergency rations of the birds. They will 

 plunder the rowan tree of its flat bunches of scarlet- 

 orange fruit in summery autumn, gobbling them so 

 wastefully, too, that three berries are scattered on 

 the ground for every one that is eaten. The berries 

 of the elder are scarcely allowed to show purple 

 before they are incontinently swallowed by the 

 gabbling starlings and jarring missel-thrushes that 

 scramble and tumble all day long among the elder's 

 yielding twigs. But the holly is held in reserve, not 

 by mutual consent, for there is no mutuality in bird- 

 dom, where each thrives upon its neighbour's mis- 

 fortunes, but because the berries have little attraction, 

 in spite of the urgent invitation of their colour. So 

 in a mild season the holly may carry its berries till 

 the next summer ; but in this winter the birds' hard 

 times had reached the holly-eating stage just two 

 days before Christmas. 



