64 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



sweet, now loud and clear, now Jow and plaintive. 

 Sometimes a few notes are warbled in splendid tune, 

 but the sweeter tones are broken and interrupted by 

 the introduction of chirps like those of a House 

 Sparrow, croaks like those of a frog, or a long string 

 of chattering cries, which at once recalls the song of 

 the Wren. Many of the sweeter notes resemble 

 those of the Whitethroat, the Goldfinch, or even the 

 rapturous voice of the tame Canary, When once 

 fairly setded down to song the Sedge Warbler is not 

 easily stopped. He will continue to run through 

 the entire range of his song in spite of the noise of 

 advancing steps, or even of the stones thrown into 

 the thickets to scare him. If compelled to change 

 h's perch, he often does so singing as he flies ; or, 

 for a brief instant the song is hushed, and then 

 breaks out anew in some more secluded corner of 

 his haunt. As is so characteristic of the Song 

 Thrush, the Sedge Warbler frequently repeats a 

 note, or a series of notes, several times in succession, 

 before passing into another variation of his ever- 

 changing song. The Sedge Warbler is a most 

 persistent night singer ; and when several birds are 

 singing in concert, as they often do in districts where 

 the species is common, the effect is extremely 

 beautiful to the ear during darkness, when surround- 

 ing objects are hidden in gloom, and there is nothing 

 to disturb our undivided attention. All night long 

 the Sedge Warblers sing almost incessantly, but as 



