72 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



is, apparently, really the same expression used 

 occasionally as a finale to the ditty. 



To return to the hahits of the " Chi " at the 

 nest, at another tune only you must be at least 

 twenty-five or thirty yards distant the female, 

 after installing herself in some tree not far from her 

 home, will every now and again fly down secretively 

 to some point a hush or a hedge-spray, for 

 example in its vicinity ; yet she will scarcely ever 

 dare to venture right into it until the intruder's 

 back is turned, or unless he is hidden very nicely 

 indeed. In fact, few species are warier in this 

 respect. All the same, the moment the timid 

 creature considers the coast clear, back she goes. 



When there are young in the nest, however, 

 their parents may even now some pairs are 

 extremely shy forget their innate love of caution, 

 even to approaching the trespasser examining their 

 babies to within a few yards and full in the open ; 

 now they settle on the ground, frequently crouch- 

 ing in an attitude suggestive of the acutest alarm 

 or pretending to be partially disabled ; again, they 

 flit restlessly back and fro, to and from the field 

 to any convenient fence, wire, hedge, or even a 

 rick, should it be present. Oddly enough, the male 

 is often the more agitated. The female appears 

 to undertake the bulk of the feeding of the young, 

 while, at intervals, the cock cheers the entire family 

 w r ith song. In some districts but they are very 

 few and far between where ' ' Cirls ' ' are tolerably 



