It sounds prettily enough

I (almost, because I do love a lie-in) welcome being woken up at dawn by the chorus of blackbirds, robins and other birds in our garden – this morning music tells me that surely, Spring is finally here to stay. And don’t we all look forward to that after the winter?

BUT

I also treasure my wind-up mechanical singing bird, a birthday present, which makes it pretty special. Sadly I don’t know its origin though I suspect it was made sometime between the 1930s and 1950s. I love its gentle movements, its chirping and singing. That said I agree with the sentiment expressed in Hans Christian Andersen’s  The Nightingale, it can never replace the real thing.

Interesting aside: There’s a wonderful episode of Faerie Tale Theater (narrated by Shelley Duvall and starring Mick Jagger, no less, as the Emperor!) on YouTube