191 8. BuRKiTT. — Notes on Birds. 143 



way by singing lustily all day, with occasional rests of 

 half an hour or so, and on to 9.30 p.m. from the topmost 

 branches, as well as while down in the roots of a hedge, 

 and in each interval between carrying building material. 

 They make practically no concealment of building operations. 

 There is seldom if ever any alarm or scold notes. They may 

 sing even when they see one at the nest, and on one's moving 

 away the building proceeds. This is all so totally different 

 from when paired. They then are most wary and give 

 the alarm at once. The arrival of a mate and eggs is at 

 once indicated by the cessation of the song and by the 

 call or the scold. 



The above, then, would explain why Mr. Ussher's 

 observer invariably found the male the builder without any 

 assistance from the female — there was no female. 1 may 

 here say that the true female's nest has seldom a speck of 

 willows-down, and if she inhabits a male's nest she removes 

 as much of the decoration as she can. 



Now the birds which pair at the main arrival have 

 their nests made by the end of the second or third week 

 in ]\Iay and are then silent (unless for a very rare low^ half 

 song when feeding young). Nevertheless the whole country 

 resounds with Whitethroats' song on through June — the last 

 I heard being two on July nth. I have proved abundantly, 

 at least to my own satisfaction, that every one of these late 

 singers is a lonely male. A, B, C were three consecutive 

 birds along a road by my place, thus exemplifying the 

 great number of these males. It thus appears plain that 

 the whole country is swarming at the end of May and 

 through June with these lonely males, and all building 

 away at a series of nests. A few pick up mates compara- 

 tively early, but the main body do not till the last days 

 of June. The silencing of A, B, C corresponded with the 

 rest of the birds in the countr}-. Where do the mates 

 come from ? Well, I should guess that the late ones 

 like A, B, C — apparently in large supply — come from a 

 breaking up of the early pairs, as the 3^oung are seen looking 

 after themselves just about the end of June. The original 

 males, perhaps, being tired of married life. But where 

 do the less late females come from ? Is it from a late 

 female migration ? And above all, why is there such a 



