12 BIRDS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



view of all passers-b}'' ; but it is stranger still that his 

 courtship should be performed in the face of the world, 

 generally in an open field under trees, but often on a lawn 

 in a garden, and the way he capers about his mate, and 

 generally " shows himself off" is very entertaining. 



The song thrush and the missel thrush both sing perched 

 on high trees, often the highest in the neighbourhood, 

 whereas at other times they are rather chary of letting 

 themselves be seen. 



Hunger often drives these birds, as well as the mi- 

 gratory thrushes, close to a house, and they will even feed 

 upon a window-sill ; but it is sad to think that so many of 

 the latter perish from the combined effects of hunger and 

 thirst, not to speak of the murderous gun. 



Among the warblers it is surprising how the chiffchaff 

 can find its way across vast expanses of water when it is 

 noticed that its fliofht from bush to bush is so waveringf and 

 apparently feeble ; but there is no doubt it does, though 

 probably many of them perish by the way, and a curious 

 feature of their migration is that the young of the year 

 always set out on their journey first, and not, as many 

 suppose, in the company of their parents and elders. 



While bearing a general resemblance, the eggs of uU 

 birds vary a good deal, often a great deal, in appearance, 

 those in one nest differing conspicuously in detail from 

 those in another, a fact that should alwaj's be borne in 

 mind when describing them, and which also accounts for 

 the fact, otherwise puzzling, that scarce two writers give 

 the same description of the eggs of birds. 



There are exceptions, of course. For instance, those of 

 the dunnock differ little, if at all, from each other, and the 

 same observation applies to those of the redstart, the 

 nightingale, and a few others ; but these form the excep- 

 tion, not the rule. 



