MARCH 61 



which is the refrain of his love-song. On every hedge- 

 top the Yellow-hammer demands his "little bit of 

 bread and no cheese." The Skylark is never in better 

 voice than in the burst of sun which follows a short 

 March squall of hail or sleet as the leaden-hued cloud- 

 piles roll away. Lastly, the Tits seem to surpass 

 themselves and ring a hundred changes on their 

 ordinary spring notes. 



This increase of song heralds the approach of the 

 breeding season, and the other events which we note 

 this month have an evident connection with the same 

 important epoch. The flocks of finches, buntings 

 and larks, which have ranged over the stubbles and 

 hung about the stackyards through the winter, now 

 break up into pairs. The change is a gradual one 

 and does not take place in a day. There seems to be 

 a good deal of variation in the date at which individuals 

 of the same species feel the nesting impulse. Several 

 pairs of Ring Doves (our well-known Wood Pigeon) 

 may be breeding in the fir plantation while flocks of 

 their kindred on the neighbouring fields show no 

 indication of nesting. Sometimes, as we watch a 

 flock of Lapwings on moor or meadow, a pair will 

 separate from the rest and swoop overhead with 

 excited cries of " pee-wit," screaming and tumbling 

 as if already nesting. The family parties of Long- 

 tailed Tits which have ranged the woods all through 

 the winter are no longer seen, but pairs may be met 



