By the time the sap is well up in the oaks all the birds have
arrived, and the tremulous cooing of the turtle-dove is heard by
those engaged in barking the felled trees. The sap rises slowly in
the oaks, moving gradually through the minute interstices or
capillary tubes of this close-grained wood; the softer timber-trees
are full of it long before the oak; and when the oak is putting
forth its leaves it is high spring. Doves stay so much at this time
in the great hawthorns of the hedgerows and at the edge of the
copses that they are seldom noticed, though comparatively large
birds. They are easily seen by any who wish; the 'coo-coo' tells
where they are; and in walking gently to find them, many other
lesser birds will be observed. A wryneck may be caught sight of on a
bough overhead; a black-headed bunting, in the hedge where there is
a wet ditch and rushes; a blackcap, in the birches; and the
'zee-zee-zee' of the tree-pipit by the oaks just through the narrow
copse.

This is the most pleasant and the best way to observe--to have an
object, when so many things will be seen that would have been passed
unnoticed. To steal softly along the hedgerow, keeping out of sight
as much as possible, pausing now and then to listen as the 'coo-coo'
is approached; and then, when near enough to see the doves, to
remain quiet behind a tree, is the surest way to see everything
else. The thrush will not move from her nest if passed so quietly;
the chaffinch's lichen-made nest will be caught sight of against the
elm-trunk--it would escape notice otherwise; the whitethroat may be
watched in the nettles almost underneath; a rabbit will sit on his
haunches and look at you from among the bare green stalks of brake
rising; mice will rustle under the ground-ivy's purple flowers; a
mole perhaps may be seen, for at this time they often leave their
burrows and run along the surface; and, indeed, so numerous are the
sights and sounds and interesting things, that you will soon be
conscious of the fact that, while you watch one, two or three more
are escaping you. It would be the same with any other search as well
as the dove; I choose the dove because by then all the other
creatures are come and are busy, and because it is a fairly large
bird with a distinctive note, and consequently a good guide.

But these are not all the spring-birds: there are the whinchats,
fly-catchers, sandpipers, ring-ousels, and others that are
occasional or rare. There