138 BIRD NOTES 



(yaffle), for that he did last year; but now he 

 (I call it he because he does it in such a masterly 

 way) sits on a neighbouring chimney-pot just 

 about the time when the dinner is cooking, like a 

 priestess of Apollo on her tripod, inspired no 

 doubt by the fumes and warmth below ; and there 

 he holds forth. First comes the laugh, as if to 

 call attention ; then the blackbird is imitated so 

 well that if you did not see the bird you could not 

 believe it was a starling ; then the twittering of 

 swallows, then the warning note of the robin, the 

 croak of the rook, and once I think I heard the 

 quack of a duck. There can be no mistake about 

 the others. And the bird seems to enjoy it so. 

 ' Er briistet sich,' as the Germans say, and stands 

 as if on tiptoe, and turns his head from side to 

 side with the most absurdly affected and self- 

 satisfied air. He takes great pains ; and in spite 

 of his airs and graces is quite absorbed in his per- 

 formance. One would think he had an audience 

 before him of all the birds in the air, but generally, 

 he has only before him the wide expanse of earth 

 and sky from which to draw inspiration. Some- 

 times one sees another starling sitting a little below 

 his mate, I suppose looking up at him with 

 evident admiration ; and I have now and then 

 suspected that he was aware of me and my ad- 

 miration in the garden below. 



