Birds by M K C Scott. Described by J A Henderson.
 
ABOUT OUR BIRDS
IN the life of a bird the changing seasons are the great events, and each one brings with it different duties, different conditions, and therefore different ways of life. In winter most of the birds are silent. They have no heart to sing in the cold weather. Often food is hard to find, and the search for it takes all their time in the short days. At night they roost among the bushes or in some quiet corner in their native haunts. In many cases they crowd together, poor shivering things, to keep warm; and some birds use the shelter of their old nests.
 
You may be sure they welcome very eagerly the first sign of spring and new life, and sing it in with all their hearts: "Life again, light again, leaf again, love again!" It is then that the flocks of birds that have lived together since autumn separate into pairs.