100 



SYLVIAD^. 



large apple-tree close by. As the notes were not familiar 

 to me, I went round the tree several times in order to dis- 

 cover whence they proceeded. One of the notes was like 

 the noise which may be made by striking two pebbles 

 together, the other a querulous chirp, and they seemed to 

 come from diii'erent parts of the tree. The author of the 

 music, however, alloAved me several times to come very near 



TUK UKDSTART. 



him, and I satisfied myself that both sounds proceeded 

 from the same bird, a male Eedstart, whose nest, I after- 

 wards heard, was built in an adjoining shed. This singular 

 power of ventriloquizing, or making its note apparently 

 proceed from a distant place, is possessed also by the 

 Nightingale, as any one may assure himself who will 

 quietly creep up to within a few yards of one of these 



