Early Birds , .
The question is raised—in a local paper in Wiltshire: Which is the earliest bird to sing? My experience is the lark. To be " Up with lark " is to be up before sunrise. The birds seem to feel that if they spiral, up at the right moment they will be the first to see the sun. This view, of course, excludes the night singers, the nightingales, the sedge warblers and the cuckoo, the last a bird that it likely to go off at any odd hour. The Wiltshire naturalists give good evidence for the belief that one of the multiplying species—and I can corroborate from other counties—is that engaging and sweet-voiced wader, the redshank. One was seen lately, for example, in Hertfordshire, on the edge of a -stoall pond in a singularly dry district. Snipe, too, are thought to be increas- ing. They certainly breed in fair numbers along the Lea ; and so do woodcock in adjacent woods. Incidentally, touching these two birds, should we or should we not allow them a plural? Sportsmen, but not all grammarians, always cut out the final " s." Other sporting writets insert it.
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