THE GLORIES OF THE SPRING. 5 



this identical Chiffchaff has come right back again 

 to the spot where it built its nest last year, and is 

 about to make a fresh one not half-a-dozen yards 

 away from the very bush which shielded its 

 previous home ! How very much more fascinating 

 is the philosophy of a rational migration, than to 

 assume that the Chiffchaff is prompted to fly 

 hither it feels not how, it knows not why ! The 

 Chiffchaff has had to learn its way like any other 

 traveller ; and has been taught many of the tricks 

 of the journey by former experience. Then re- 

 member the Chiffchaff is only a unit in the great 

 migrating army of birds ; and that there are others 

 which come from more distant regions still the 

 Swallows, for example, which traverse sultry Africa 

 from end to end and perform a journey of six 

 thousand miles twice every year of their lives. 



But we have only touched upon the very 

 margin of this fascinating subject yet. Watch 

 our little Chiffchaff hopping about the alder 

 bushes by the stream. Note the intelligence 

 conveyed in its little eye, now expressive of 

 alarm, now of boundless trust, questioning you, 

 reading your very thoughts. It is perfectly 

 amazing what an amount of expression can be 

 seen in the eyes of a bird an unerring index to 

 the mental powers at work in the brain. Then 

 comes the courtship of our stranger Chiffchaff, 

 How boldly the cock-bird chases his mate 

 amongst the tree-tops ; or how softly he whispers 

 to her down among the bilberry wires ; and how 



