i68 E VOL UTION OF BIRD-SONG 



Oxford. I heard a bird of this species imitate 

 fluently and accurately the cries of many birds living 

 in its vicinity. Jesse {Gleanings, p. 172) observed 

 that the whitethroat imitates the notes of the swallow 

 and sparrow. I have often observed these imita- 

 tions, and others less noticeable, performed by the 

 whitethroat. The skylark is very imitative. Jesse 

 whistled a tune to one which he had reared from the 

 nest ; and he heard the bird " inwardly whistle, or, in 

 the language of bird-fanciers, ' record ' it." Bechstein 

 wrote that its young in cages readily imitate, but not 

 generally the old ones {op. cit. p. 178), and that the 

 Calandra lark can imitate all sounds adapted to its 

 organs {ibid. p. 185). The common skylark is imita- 

 tive, both when w^ild and when caged. A whinchat 

 reared by Sweet from the nest learned songs of the 

 whitethroat, nightingale, willow-warbler, and mistle- 

 thrush, which it frequently heard singing in a garden 

 near (Bechstein, op. cit. p. 243). Sweet wrote that the 

 stonechat has a strong voice " to imitate the notes of 

 another" {ibid. p. 244). I have heard the wild stone- 

 chat mimic very well. Yarrell recorded the imitative- 

 ness of these two species. The Rev. W. H. Herbert, 

 above quoted, states that the young wheatear, whin- 

 chat, and others of the genus Saxicola, which have 

 little natural variety of song, are no less ready than 



