IMPRESSIONS OF SOME ENGLISH BIRDS 143 



lower in the choir, and the tone and compass of the 

 warblers mount in regular gradation from the clink- 

 ing note of the chiffchaff up to the nightingale. 

 Several of the warblers sing at night, and several 

 of the constituents of the lark sing on the wing. 

 On the lark's side, the birds are remarkable for 

 gladness and ecstacy, and are more creatures of the 

 light and of the open spaces; on the side of the 

 nightingale there is more pure melody, and more a 

 love for the twilight and the privacy of arboreal life. 

 Both the famous songsters are representative as to 

 color, exhibiting the prevailing gray and dark tints. 

 A large number of birds, I noticed, had the two 

 white quills in the tail characteristic of the lark. 



I found that I had overestimated the bird-music 

 to be heard in England in midsummer. It appeared 

 to be much less than our own. The last two or 

 three weeks of July were very silent: the only bird 

 I was sure of hearing in my walks was the yellow- 

 hammer ; while, on returning home early in August, 

 the birds made such music about my house that 

 they woke me up in the morning. The song spar- 

 row and bush sparrow were noticeable till in Sep- 

 tember, and the red-eyed vireo and warbling vireo 

 were heard daily till in October. 



On the whole, I may add that I did not any- 

 where in England hear so fine a burst of bird-song 

 as I have heard at home, and I listened long for it 

 and attentively. Not so fine in quality, though 

 perhaps greater in quantity. It sometimes happens 

 that several species of our best songsters pass the 



