120 BIRDS AND MAN 



to trace to its source the pleasurable feelings which 

 the song of that bird produces in me and in many 

 others — a charm exceeding that of many more 

 celebrated vocalists. In that chapter the song 

 of the willow wren was mentioned incidentally. 

 Now, these two — wood wren and willow wren — 

 albeit nearly related, are, in the character of their 

 notes, as widely different as it is possible for two 

 songsters to be ; and when we listen attentively 

 to both, we recognise that the feeling produced 

 in us differs in each case — that it has a different 

 cause. In the case of the willow wren it might 

 be said off-hand that our pleasure is simply due 

 to the fact that it is a melodious sound, associated 

 in our minds with summer scenes. As much could 

 be said of any other migrant's song — nightingale, 

 tree-pipit, blackcap, garden warbler, swallow, and 

 a dozen more. But it does not explain the in- 

 dividual and very special charm of this particular 

 bird — what I have ventured to call the secret of 

 the willow wren. After all, it is not a deeply hidden 

 secret, and has indeed been half guessed or hinted 

 by various writers on bird melody ; and as it also 

 happens to be the secret of other singers besides 

 the willow wren, we may, I think, find in it an 

 explanation of the fact that the best singers do 



