SONG OF BIRDS. 743 



S3. Iliruudo nistica. Begins fourth week of April. 



Sk Trof^lodytes europaeus. Begins in February : ceases third 



week of November. Rarely heard in winter. 

 35. Cuculus canorus. Begins first week of May : ceases first 



week of July. 



The season of love certainly exerts a most powerful influence 

 as to the sonsf of birds ; but to what influence should we ascribe 

 those songs which we hear in autumn and winter ? Are they 

 owing to the abundance of food and occasional warmth of the 

 air 1 These no doubt exert a certain influence ; but then why 

 did the Chaffinch sing so frequently in the winter of 1839-40, 

 while during the same season of the previous years its voice 

 was never heard ? In this case, neither the weather nor the 

 scarcity of food could have any influence ; and why, may I 

 ask, are not all our choristers heard during the delightful days 

 which we sometimes enjoy in winter I Granivorous birds can 

 never want food in the stackyards of the Lothians. I am now 

 almost persuaded that all the facts which can ever be accumu- 

 lated, will never explain this great mystery. 



In the course of my rambles in my native country, I have 

 endeavoured to ascertain at what time our warblers commence 

 their matin lays. In the beginning of July, at about half-past 

 one o'clock, up springs the Sky Lark, to greet the coming 

 morn ; at two the Swallow twitters from his " straw-built 

 shed ;" soon the mellow-toned Blackbird and the thrilling 

 Thrush call up the grove ; the Robin Redbreast takes up the 

 burden of the song, and the Wren, as he bustles from his ivy 

 roost, joins the strain. Now the Blackcap is heard loud and 

 clear ; let the enraptured ear dwell for three or four minutes 

 on the charmin<T and ever-varied sonsf of the Garden Warbler, 

 rising and falling in the softest and sweetest swells and caden- 

 ces. Advancing along the woodland path, we listen to the 

 melody of the Green Woodwren, the curious song of the 

 Yellow Woodwren, high up in the beechen tree the notes of 

 the White-throat Warbler, in some individuals musical, in 

 others harsh, and of many other songsters, which mingle with 

 the call of the Cuckoo, and the murmur of the Cushat. 



