168 EVOLUTION OF BIRD-SONG 



Oxford. I heard a bird of this species imitate 

 fluently and accurately the cries of many birds living 

 in its vicinity. Jesse (Gleanings, p. 172) observed 

 that the whitethroat imitates the notes of the swallow 

 and sparrow. I have often observed these imita- 

 tions, and others less noticeable, performed by the 

 whitethroat. The skylark is very imitative. Jesse 

 whistled a tune to one which he had reared from the 

 nest ; and he heard the bird " inwardly whistle, or, in 

 the language of bird-fanciers, ' record ' it." Bechstein 

 wrote that its young in cages readily imitate, but not 

 generally the old ones (op, cit. p. 178), and that the 

 Calandra lark can imitate all sounds adapted to its 

 organs (ibid. p. 185). The common skylark is imita- 

 tive, both when wild and when caged. A whinchat 

 reared by Sweet from the nest learned songs of the 

 whitethroat, nightingale, willow-warbler, and mistle- 

 thrush, which it frequently heard singing in a garden 

 near (Bechstein, op. cit. p. 243). Sweet wrote that the 

 stonechat has a strong voice " to imitate the notes of 

 another " (ibid. p. 244). I have heard the wild stone- 

 chat mimic very well. Yarrell recorded the imitative- 

 ness of these two species. The Rev. W. H. Herbert, 

 above quoted, states that the young wheatear, whin- 

 chat, and others of the genus Saxicola, which have 

 little natural variety of song, are no less ready than 



