JANUARY 19 



or by more than a degree or two of frost, the Robin's 

 quiet contribution of song and the Hedge-Sparrow's 

 modest refrain will not fail us, while it takes a sharp 

 snap of cold to still the Wren's loud but momentary 

 outburst of minstrelsy, so often heard when the orange 

 sunset sky tells of a coming night frost. In an open 

 season Ring-Doves — not the migratory flocks upon the 

 fields, but those familiar stay-at-home birds which 

 spend the whole year about the shrubberies, lawn or 

 paddock, — begin to coo. In mild districts, as in the 

 south of Ireland, Herons resort to their nests and may 

 even be building by the end of the month. 



Other signs of the approach of the breeding season 

 are not wanting. Some sunny morning towards the 

 close of January there is unwonted stir amongst the 

 Partridges, excited crowing, scuffling of rival suitors, 

 racing and chasing over the fallows The packs or 

 coveys have broken up ; henceforth we see pairs only. 

 Meanwhile the Rooks resort to their nests, and in the 

 meadows we may watch the bowings and shufflings 

 characteristic of rook courtship, and may see the 

 cock-bird, glossy in burnished blues and purples, step 

 up to present a choice grub to the object of his affections, 

 who receives it with gaping bill and quivering wings. 

 Such are some of the characteristics of the month 

 when the vane veers steadily between south and west, 

 and no treacherous anti-cyclone invites the Continental 

 cold to invade our islands. 



