Birds Ventriloquists. 195 



quial effects would, I think, be produced by the 

 peculiar habits of the bird. When that which 

 causes a sound is out of sight it must always be 

 difficult to fix upon the exact spot whence the sound 

 comes. When the sound is made now here, now 

 yonder, as the bird travels swiftly still out of 

 sight it must be still more difficult. The crake 

 doubtless often cries from a furrow, which would act 

 something like a trough, tending to draw the sound 

 along it. Finally the incessant repetition of the 

 same note, harsh and loud, confuses the ear. 



Some say in like manner that the starling ventril- 

 oquizes. He has, indeed, one peculiar long-drawn 

 hollow whistle which goes echoing round the chim- 

 ney-pots and to and fro among the gables ; but it 

 never deceives you as to his position on the roof 

 unless you are indoors and cannot see him. It is 

 the same with the finches in the trees, when the 

 foliage is thick. Their notes seem to come from 

 this side among the branches, but on peering care- 

 fully up there is no bird visible ; then it sounds 

 higher up, and even in the next tree ; all the while 

 the finch is but just overhead, and the moment he 

 moves he is seen. Other birds equally deceive the 

 ear : the yellow-hammer does sometimes, and the 

 chattering brook-sparrow ; so will the blackbird when 

 singing always provided that they are temporarily 

 invisible. 



When the crake remains a long time in one place, 

 uttering the call continuously, the illusion disappears, 

 and there is no more difficulty in approximately fix- 

 ing its position than that of any other bird. One 

 summer a crake chose a spot on the ' shore ' of the 



