MIMICRY OF ROBIN 195 



mentioned in the record of these imitations are as 

 follows : 



Total instances Thrushes which 

 Bird imitated. of this imitation . imitated it. 



Nuthatch 1 .... 136 37 



Wood- warbler . . . . 133 37 



House-sparrow . . . 103 36 



Blackbird's alarm ... 78 31 



Blue Tit 57 24 



Great Tit .... 47 24 



THE ROBIN 



Pursuing the same method of investigation with 

 the robin, I recorded in the same period 1316 

 phrases, sung by a total number of 65 birds, and 

 905 of the phrases contained one or more imitations. 

 The following table indicates particulars of these 

 songs, corresponding to those above stated in 

 relation to the thrush : 



1 The tables do not record a sufficient number of imitations of notes 

 of the nuthatch. In early spring I often passed, as not worth notice, 

 thrushes whose notes then consisted almost entirely of modifications 

 of the commoner cries of this bird ; and similarly, I have sometimes at 

 first mistaken a loquacious nuthatch for a thrush. 



