16 JANUARY. 



they are extremely partial, hanging their nests 

 to the under-surface of the lower branches. 

 Though apparently of so delicate a nature, they 

 remain with us all the winter, and appear to 

 suffer less from cold than even many of our 

 hard-billed species. 



The blackbird whistles; the titmouse pulls 

 straws out of the thatch, in search of insects ; 

 and linnets congregate. Pullets begin to lay ; 

 young lambs are dropped now in southern 

 counties, but the more common time of lamb- 

 ing is in March. The fieldfares, redwings, sky- 

 larks, and titlarks, resort to watered meadows 

 for food, and are, in part, supported by the 

 •mats which are on the snow near the water. 

 The house-sparrow chirps, and the bat is now 

 seen. As the cold grows more intense, various 

 kinds of sea-fowl quit the bleak open shores, 

 and come up the rivers, where they offer an 

 unusual prey to the fowler. 



RURAL OCCUPATIONS. 



The most important business of the farmer 

 this month, is to feed and comfort his depen- 

 dent animals : his cattle in their stalls and 

 straw-yards ; his sheep in warm and sheltered 

 enclosures, giving them hay, straw, turnips, etc.: 

 looking well after his flocks that they be not 

 lost in snows ; and in forward districts, as in the 



