18 BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



a low barometer and the moist breath of south-westerly 

 airs prevail, the old earth, not content with turning 

 in her sleep, gives further signs of a premature 

 awakening. 



In such soft and kindly Januarys, bird-songs voice 

 the general opinion that winter has this year dropped 

 out of the calendar, and that, for those with a hopeful 

 turn of mind, spring has fairly begun. So easy are the 

 times that berries and hedge-row fruits hang long 

 untouched, and few applicants make their appearance 

 at the bird-table for the customary largesse of crumbs 

 and kitchen-scraps. Day by day the thrushes pipe 

 their matins and evensong, and some clear evening at 

 sunset one catches a few mellow notes of accompani- 

 ment from the blackbird in the elm-top, though it is 

 not till February that he takes his full part in the choir 

 and in a chilly season may be voiceless until that 

 month has half run its course. Much the same may be 

 said of the chaffinch ; a chance hour when the January 

 sun, breaking through the clouds, sheds unwonted 

 warmth, may set it singing, just as it may draw a 

 burst of song from the first soaring skylark of the year. 

 But these are early days ; if colder weather ensues 

 such impulses are no longer felt, and in any case the 

 time of fuller and more constant song is yet to 

 come. 



Day by day the spring notes of the various tits are 

 increasingly in evidence. Unless discouraged by snow 



