82 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



which makes the glade and hill resound; then sink- 

 ing again into deep internal murmurs; yet in all 

 suggesting a vast reserve of power held artistically 

 in check. Here, surely, is not only a great singer, 

 but, of necessity, a fairly large bird- — at least thrush- 

 like in size. No — the marvellous song dies down. 

 A glimpse of sober grey is caught amidst the leaves, 

 and soon a plain little bird, five or six inches in 

 length, moves unobtrusively to the end of an outer- 

 most spray. For the American naturalist, the song 

 of the Nightingale, and, in a lesser degree, of the 

 Blackcap and Garden Warbler — followed by an 

 appearance of the bird itself, is always something 

 of a revelation. 



The three small warblers — the Wood Wren, the 

 Willow Wren, and the Chiffchaff — have so many 

 characteristics in common, which set them apart 

 from their congeners, that they appear to fall into a 

 natural group. In size and plumage they are so 

 much alike that the differences (in the case of the 

 Willow Wren and Chiffchaff especially) can only be 

 detected when the birds are carefully compared ; 

 they are all strictly insectivorous, never, after the 

 manner of the Blackcap, Garden Warbler and 

 others, making raids upon the fruit-trees, and they 

 each build a domed nest which is placed upon the 

 ground, and is disproportionately large in com- 

 parison with the size of the bird. On the other 

 hand, in their notes and in certain of their habits 

 they are widely dissimilar. For one who has once 

 learned to recognize the monotonous insect-like cry 

 of the Wood Wren ; the bold, breezy challenge of 



