6 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS. 



whirring forms of the grouse are still seen spinning away as 

 wild as in November. Indeed, it is not till May that the 

 true spirit of the vernal season is fully developed. In mid- 

 April the only signs of vegetation are the catkins on the 

 willows and osiers. At the end of that month the hardy 

 birch and alder may show some symptoms of returning 

 greenery ; but the heather remains as black and as cold as 

 ever, and the grass, rushes, and fern are but the dead and 

 withered remnants of last year's growth, colourless and 

 blanched by the weather, and flattened down by the weight 

 of the winter's snows. 



