1902 Reptile Studies 17, 



few thrushes and larks were singing on the first warm days 

 in October, but that was chiefly at sunrise or soon after; 

 and later in the month, and in November, these songs 

 became more noticeable. Rarer October songs are those 

 of the chaffinch and cirl bunting ; while the titmice, always 

 noisy, are then occasionally heard giving some of their 

 springtide cries or songs. Last October I heard a grey 

 wagtail {Motacilla melanope) in full song whilst flying — a 

 pleasant and varied warble, most unusual at that season. 

 If the weather remained open, these October songs would 

 doubtless be continued ; but frost comes, and they cease. 



Of all the sounds that tell of waning winter the black- 

 bird's noisy clicking cry at evening is perhaps the most 

 suggestive : it seems to make one realise, as surely as the 

 delay of approaching dusk, that spring is really coming. 

 But though then so noisy, the bird does not generally till 

 February lift its voice in melody, and then, as we might 

 naturally expect, its first songs are often short, and repeated 

 again and again in the same notes, without that long and 

 varied phrasing which ennobles its efforts in April, May, and 

 June. 



Reptile Studies. 



By Gerald Leighton, M.D. 



I. The Effect of Captivity on Character and 

 Disposition. 



The outdoor observation of our reptiles in the winter 

 months must of necessity be limited to one phase of their 

 existence — namely, the process of hibernation. But it is 

 a convenient time for considering some general questions 

 concerning these animals, of which the title of this article 

 is one. 



We are all rather apt to form our opinions of the habits 

 and the character of animals from what we see exhibited 

 by them in a state of captivity. The artificial nature of 

 their surroundings, even under the most favourable con- 



VOL. I. — no. I. B 



