62 MISADVENTURES OF BIRD-WATCHING 



in my own mind that all was done that was 

 possible under existent circumstances to ascer- 

 tain their species. Luck was adverse. Birds, 

 particularly some of the warblers, are nob easily 

 identified from coloured illustrations, or from 

 elaborate descriptions of their habits. If I had 

 heard the male in full song, I might have 

 instantly recognised him. Though he probably 

 sang while I was near, he certainly must then 

 have been out of sight in the thicket ; and, had 

 I arrived at any hasty conclusion, the very end 

 to which my observations were directed might 

 have been defeated. Several of the warblers 

 make use of alarm notes that are almost identical ; 

 still, but for the fact that for the past six years I 

 had been unable to spend my leisure, at favour- 

 able intervals, in the companionship of the birds, 

 I might have formed an accurate idea, from 

 some slightly distinctive sound, of the species to 

 which the warbler belonged. 



I made one careful attempt at finding the nest, 

 but the undergrowth was matted and thick, and 

 it seemed likely that to beat it down, or turn it 

 roughly aside, might mean unnecessary labour 

 and the destruction of the nest. My chief desire 

 was to ascertain the exact point from which the 

 hen-bird dropped into the nest ; but she only 

 once visited the spot while I was near, and that 

 was on the first occasion, when she perched on 



