156 RELATION OF SONG TO THE TERRITORY 



with a special instrument in virtue of which 

 it produces its characteristic melody. But there 

 is a very remarkable phenomenon connected 

 with the singing of birds which shows that this 

 is really not the case — I mean the phenomenon 

 of imitation. There are plenty of good imitators 

 amongst our native species, and the power of 

 imitation is not the exclusive property of those 

 which have reached a high degree of vocal 

 development, nor, for the matter of that, of 

 song-birds at all. Even the Jay, than which 

 few birds have a more raucous voice, that 

 "hoots" like the Wood-Owl, or copies the 

 sounds produced by the tail feathers of the 

 Snipe, will occasionally imitate the most 

 melodious strains of some other species ; and 

 the Red-backed Shrike, whose sexual call is 

 principally a few harsh notes rapidly repeated, 

 bursts at times into perfect imitations of the 

 song of the Swallow, Linnet, or Chaffinch. 

 Nevertheless it is amongst such typical songsters 

 as the Warblers that we find the greatest volume 

 of imitation, and no limit seems to be placed 

 upon their capacity. The Marsh-Warbler can 

 utter the call of the Green Woodpecker, or sing 

 as the Nightingale does, with as much facility 

 as it sings its own song ; and the Blackcap is 

 well-nigh as proficient in copying the cries 

 and melodies of surrounding species — and so, 

 if it were necessary, we might proceed to add 

 to the list. 



These examples demonstrate that different 

 songs are not represented by a corresponding 



