174 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



and thither, vanishing and reappearing, scolding and 

 by-and-by fighting ; for any spot in which I stationed 

 myself to observe them would be within the territory 

 of a particular pair, and when other pairs came in to 

 assist in the demonstration against me, they were re- 

 garded as intruders. The cock in possession of the 

 ground would resent their presence and sing defiantly, 

 the other would reply, but was never able to stand 

 against the furious onset which would follow ; in every 

 case he was chased ignominiously back to his own 

 ground. The victor would then return to pour out his 

 triumph and challenge to all outsiders. 



The song, albeit so passionate, does not carry far, so 

 that to hear it well the listener must be as near as 

 he can possibly get to the bird. It is short, lasting 

 only a few seconds at each repetition, but when in the 

 singing spirit the little vocalist will sometimes continue 

 the performance for several minutes at a stretch. As 

 to the character of the song, Montagu, who was the 

 first man in England to write about it, said that it 

 resembled the song of the stonechat. That is true, 

 since the little chat's song is composed of a few low 

 and guttural notes interspersed with others bright and 

 clear ; but Montagu omitted to say that he spoke only 

 of the chat's song uttered from a perch and not the 

 song the same bird emits when he rises high in the air 

 and, falling and rising, pours out his little rhythmical 

 melody — his better song. But the song, or rather 

 songs, of the stonechat are known to few persons, 

 owing to the fact that this bird is intolerant of the 



