378 



AUTUMN AND WINTER 



from the boughs. The wren's mate follows him as he slips, 

 mouselike, through the chinks in the faggot-pile or along 

 the eaves of the old thatched shed ; and the impetuous 

 scrimmaging of the cock sparrows increases as their black 

 throat-patch becomes more clear. Neither the song nor the 

 fighting of the cock birds of various species has probably so 

 definite a purpose of winning a new mate as is often supposed. 

 Both their song and their combativeness are natural ebulli- 

 tions of a spirit fired by spring ; they sing from increased 

 vitality, and fight more or less promiscuously from the same 

 incentive. Young birds still unmated may gain their brides 

 by force of arms or vigour as expressed in song ; but the 

 old birds sing as vigorously as the young, and if they fight, 

 it is less often to win a mate than to warn off an unmated 

 intruder. 



Carrion crows are winged Ishmaelites which have often 

 to travel far before they can find a spot where they can nest 

 in safety ; and when we see how closely 

 they cling together on their wanderings, 

 habitual constancy among migratory birds 

 seems more probable. Before the end 

 of February pairs of carrion crows begin 

 to wander about the country in search of 

 suitable nesting-places, and attract atten- 

 tion by their loud caws more hoarse and 

 snarling than those of the rook 

 and by their way of posting them- 

 selves conspicuously on some lofty 

 perch. They settle early in the 

 place where they intend to nest, but do not naturally begin to 

 build until the end of March on early in April. If they are 

 left in peace, they will often nest in the same wood or clump 

 of trees for many years in succession ; and then they are less 



COCK PARTRIDGE CALLING 



