‘ THE TIME OF YEAR. ait 
freely previously suddenly ceased singing about Decem- 
ber 1§,and remained silent for a month, and as suddenly 
began singing again about January 15. Where they all 
came from I cannot think, there seemed such an increase 
in their numbers ; one wet morning in a small meadow 
there were forty-five feeding in sight that could be easily 
counted. They say the thrushes dig up and eat the 
roots of the arum, yet they are not root-eaters. Possibly 
it may have a medicinal effect ; the whole plant has very 
strong properties, and is still much gathered, I suppose 
for the herbalists. The root is set rather deep, quite a 
dig with a pocket knife sometimes ; one would fancy it 
was only those which had become accidentally exposed 
that are eaten by the thrushes. I have never seen them 
do it, and some further testimony would be acceptable. 
The old naturalists said the bear on awakening from its 
winter sleep dug up and ate the roots of the arum in 
order to open the tube of the intestine which had flat- 
tened together during hibernation. The blackbirds are 
the thrushes’ masters, and drive them from any morsel 
they fancy. There is very little humanity among them: 
one poor thrush had lost the joint of its leg, and in 
order to pick up anything had to support itself with one 
wing like a crutch. This bird was hunted from every 
spot he chose to alight on; no sooner did he enter the 
garden than one of the stronger birds flew at him—‘so 
misery is trodden on by many.’ There was a drone-fly 
ona sunny wall on January 20, the commonest of flics 
in summer, quite a wonder then ; the same day a housc- 
sparrow was trying to sing, for they have a song as 
well as a chirp; on January 22 a tit was sharpening 
his saw and the gnats were jumping up and down in 
crowds—this up-and-down motion seems peculiar to 
them-and may-flies. “Then the snowdrops flowered and 
P2 
