96 SPRING 



a May morning, and listen to the varied web of music, the 

 repeated ditties of the chaffinch or tree-pipit seem to be weav- 

 ing a standard pattern on the underlying fabric of more flow- 

 ing melody. We distinguish gradually the low, long rippling 

 melody of the garden-warbler, the harsher mixture of the 

 whitethroat's music, and the clear and varied warble of the 

 blackcap, with its ampler compass and pure, high notes 

 that the garden-warbler cannot reach. Garden-warblers and 

 blackcaps are often said not to haunt the same copses ; 

 but this is by no means always true. Whitethroats are very 

 abundant in the thorny undergrowth that the garden-warbler 

 loves, and also along most thick 

 hedgerows. All these species are 

 closely allied, and their song betrays 

 ^^ ' , i / ** tne relationship. The garden- 



iL&yW'' 'v/ / W' > warbler's is sweeter than the white- 



/^0£^' ',/^W throat's, and the blackcap's more 



"' { V)//I varied than either; but a good 



blackcap whitethroat's song may easily be 



mistaken for a poor garden-warb- 

 ler's, and a poor blackcap's for a good garden-warbler's. 

 Careful watching for the singer may result in a surprise for 

 the naturalist who is most confident of his ability to dis- 

 tinguish the three songs. Typical songs are easily identified, 

 but there are deceptive variations. 



Goldfinches often haunt the same high boughs which the 

 blackcap likes, but they are also fond of quiet gardens. Linnets 

 are less domestic, loving above all a wild furzy common ; but 

 they also haunt hedges and garden shrubberies. There is a 

 family likeness in the songs of both these dainty little finches, 

 and the goldfinch, by its greater vivacity, is the more popu- 

 lar. But there is a sibilant harshness in its song which is 

 less pleasing to many ears than the softer and more plaintive 



