1922. BuRKiiT. — Birds' Song. 123 



while the unmated ones sang prominently and continued 

 to do so. I had then four unmated singers, which decreased 

 gradually to one by May i8th. The last bird had started 

 late (March 28th) to sing in a certain site, and remained 

 singing and apparently mateless till May i8th. 



From May i8th onwards new singers were noted ; these 

 were apparently the mates of just fledged normal broods, 

 which were re-starting to sing in the same territory. I 

 particularly marked one male singing over the nest about 

 a day after the young had left it. I had previously thought 

 that these birds did not re-start till the young had been 

 longer out of the nest ; probably most do not. The 

 maximum of this new song was about June 8th when it 

 was very prominent, but yet not so striking to me as in 

 other years. 



By June 13th this song was going off, and the last I 

 heard was June 22nd. 



The hours of song agreed with last year's record except 

 that the sunset song there referred to did not seem at all 

 so pronounced. Nor could I say of the late May- June 

 song that it was absent at sunset. I did not study the 

 Chaffinches quite so carefully as last 3/ear. 



Missel-Thrush. — Song began at end of January. Pairs 

 could be seen at beginning of February. Song was mostly 

 off before the middle of February, and I noticed none in 

 the country this year after February 22nd, except one 

 peculiar and w^onderful bird beside me which sang apparently 

 mateless from February 13th to April 17th almost every 

 day and all day. I found a nest being built near this 

 bird some days later. Thus normal early nesters ceased 

 song six weeks before eggs. 



Hedge-Sparrow. — Several years' observation gives the 

 following. First song in the first or second week of February. 

 Normal early clutches laid up in the second half of April. 

 Song weak after March, practically none in May, a strong 

 recrudescence of song early in June. Song ends in first 

 week of July. (The song is sometimes given on alarm). 



