There  is  something  peculiarly  pleasing  to  me  in
the  song  of  this  bird.  Perhaps  association  of  ideas
may  add  a  trifle  to  the  value  of  its  melody ;  for
when  I  hear  the  first  note  of  the  chaffinch,  I  know
that  winter  is  on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  and  that
sunshine  and  fine  weather  are  not  far  off.  His  first
song  tells  me,  that  in  a  day  or  two  more  we  shall
hear  the  cooing  of  the  ring-dove,  and  see  it  rise  and
fall  in  the  air,  as  it  flies  from  grove  to  grove,  and
that  this  pretty  pigeon,  so  shy  and  wary  during  the
winter,  will  in  a  day  or  two  more  allow  me  to  ap-
proach within  ten  paces  of  it,  as  it  feeds  on  the  new
springing  verdure  of  the  lawn.
Say,  ye  learned  in  ornithology,  say,  what  is  it
that  causes  this  astonishing  change  in  the  habits  of
the  ring-dove ;  and  forces  it,  I  may  say,  to  come
close  to  our  dwellings,  and  to  coo  incessantly  from
early  February  into  late  October ;  and  then  to  shun
our  society  abruptly,  as  though  we  had  never  be-
friended it  at  all  ?

The  chaffinch  never  sings  when  on  the  wing ;  but
it  warbles  incessantly  on  the  trees,  and  on  the  hedge
rows,  from  the  early  part  of  February  to  the  second
week  in  July  ;  and  then  (if  the  bird  be  in  a  state  of


282  THE   CHAFFINCH.
