SIDE IvIGHTS ON BIRDS 



emotion, thought, feeling, idea, call it what you 

 will — is actually at work in the bird's conscious- 

 ness as it sings, of which the notes and intona- 

 tions are a definite form of expression, however 

 inadequately we may be able to interpret them. 



The nightingale in the thicket, the lark in the 

 sky, the mistle-thrush addressing the storm, 

 the wild swan crying as it passes overhead in the 

 night, all these are speaking, and it is a fact of 

 some significance that the men whom the world 

 agrees to acclaim as great — Tennyson, Words- 

 worth, Shelley, Keats — have found a definite 

 meaning in their speech. Those of us who see 

 little in these things may be merely the victims 

 of our own dulness. 



Specific Differences in Notes. 



One of the readiest means of identifying birds 

 — often the only one — is to listen attentively to 

 their respective cries. Every species has a note 

 of its own that sets it apart even from its nearest 

 congener. One may readily detect the call of 

 the lesser redpoll, chaffinch or greenfinch, in a 

 flock of linnets, or the cry of the long-tailed tit 

 or tree-creeper when the bird is invisible. 



The most highly-skilled ornithologist could 

 never be absolutely certain of the identity of the 

 wood-wren, the chiff-chaff, and the willow-wren 

 if he merely saw them moving in the tree : it is 

 the characteristic note of each that makes its 

 presence clear. But, as the season advances, 

 this means of identification becomes more and 

 more difficult. The familiar voices die down and 

 in their place come faint chirpings and subdued 

 notes. The young birds are now making their 

 presence known, and their voices have not yet 

 attained the distinguishing quality of their race. 

 In the sun-steeped village in early June, the utter- 



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