DECEMBER 239 



Wintry " alarms and excursions " of this kind keep 

 many birds upon the move, but do not drive them far 

 afield, or cause them real inconvenience. Ground- 

 feeding birds have seldom in December to contend 

 with the iron-bound crust or long-lying snow which 

 may come later. When the frost begins to " give," 

 the thrushes tunefully hail the return of easier times, 

 and the robins warble snatches of song, low and soft, 

 as if the thaw had brought with it some suggestion 

 of spring. 



Fresh-turned earth means a plentiful food-supply, 

 not only to rook and jackdaw but to a host of others. 

 This is well seen in the neighbourhood of the coast, 

 where the gulls at this time of year keep up a constant 

 sailing over the land to find out where ploughing is 

 going on. Fieldfares are scattered over one of the 

 low-lying meadows where fresh-made hillocks show 

 that the soil is still sufficiently friable for the mole to 

 be at work. Suddenly a wheeling squadron of Starlings 

 deploys into foraging formation and drops down to 

 join them. Then may be seen a curious difference 

 in manner of feeding. The fieldfare is the embodi- 

 ment of vigilance, — a hop, a cautious look round, a 

 hurried peck, then again on the qui vive. Meanwhile 

 the starlings race hither and thither, run together 

 into little knots upon the least suspicion that a neigh- 

 bour has made a find, and dispute noisily, while those 

 in the rear continually fly over the heads of the others 



