70 BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



nings is tentative, suggesting a distant vision of spring 

 days to come and of the joys of the nesting season 

 rather than any lively hope of their near fruition. 

 The Thrush's early efforts in late autumn are often 

 unworthy of him, but with the new year comes an 

 improvement. In March he sings with conviction, 

 for are not the tree-tops thick with buds and the 

 catkins hanging from every bush ? But a sudden snow 

 squall whitens the ground, and while it lasts all 

 voices are stilled. Not for long, however ; a cheery 

 optimism is rooted in the feathered breast ; a break 

 in the clouds and the soft snow vanishes like magic 

 to the tune of " cheer-up, cheer-up, cheer-up," " told 

 you so, told you so, told you so." " 'Tis the wise thrush, 

 he sings each song thrice over, 1 " and in fact all must 

 have noticed that in singing our friend of the spotted 

 breast has a preference for triplicate phrase. Repe- 

 tition of this kind is characteristic of many songs. A 

 nightingale, listened to last spring, ran on with its 

 " jug, jug, jug," for more than thirty times without 

 a pause. The pied-wagtail's song is little more than a 

 reiteration, with variations, of its call note of " chiz- 

 zick," often delivered while the performer executes a 

 sort of aerial dance with brisk movement of wings and 

 tail. That song does not rise at once to high- water 

 mark is well seen in the case of the Chaffinch, which 

 begins to sing with the first bright day in February. 

 The first attempt ends in something very like a break- 



