Many Families
And what of the birds? They, too, came in a rush simultaneously. Swallow and cuckoo, in my neighbourhood, synchronised ; and the paddock was almost noisy with willow-warblers on the same day. In going out to listen to -them I nearly trod on a partridge, which indeed is wont to begin nesting at such a date, the beginning of the second week of April ; and one of the most observant sportsmen of my acquaintance said that he had never seen so many partridge pairs, instancing one farm where birds had been almost wholly absent in the shooting season. We may yet suffer from frost and even snow to the ruin of ground nests, but there is good reason to hope that a rich breeding season may do much to make good the really terrible losses of last year. Birds may nest too early, both risking bad weather and anticipating the supply of insect food, a precipitancy especially common with the wild duck, but in general a lush and early spring is prolific of life. Quite•a considerable number of species may be lured to have three, even in extreme cases four, families, if they start early and successfully. This certainly may be exemplified by the blackbird and swallow, though of course not by the partridge.
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