a6 OXFORD : SPRING AND EAELT SUMMER. 



When the first balmy breath of spring brings the celandines 

 into bloom on the hedge-bank, and when the sweet violets and 

 primroses are beginning to feel the warmth of the sun, you may 

 always look out for the Chiff-chaff on the sheltered side of a 

 wood or coppice. As a rule, I see them before I hear them ; if 

 they come with an east wind, they doubtless feel chilly for a 

 day or two, or miss the plentiful supply of food which is 

 absolutely necessary to a bird in fuU song. Thus in 1884,' I 

 noted March 20 as the first day on which I saw the Chiff-chaff, 

 and March 23 as the first on which I heard him. The next 

 year, the jnonth of March being less genial, I looked and listened 

 in vain till the 31st. On that day I made q, circuit round a 

 wood to its sunny side, sheltered well from east and north, and 

 entering for a little way one of these grassy ' rides ' which are 

 the delight of all wood-haunting birds, I stood quite still and 

 listened. First a Eobin, then a Chaffinch broke the silence ; a 

 Wood-pigeon broke away through the boughs ; but no Chiff-chaff. 

 After a while I was just turning away, when a very faint 

 sound caught my ear, which I knew I had not heard for many 

 months. I listened still more keenly, and caught it again ; it 

 was the prelude, the preliminary whisper, with which I have 

 noticed that this bird, in common with a few others, is wont 

 to work up his faculties to the effort of an outburst of 

 song. In another minute that song was resounding throu'gh 

 the wood. 



No one who hails the approach of spring as the real begin- 

 ning of a new life for men and plants and animals, can fail to be 

 gratefiil to this little brown bird for putting on it the stamp and 



