SPRING BIRD LIFE 27 



That everything comes to him who waits, is a truth 

 that cannot be too carefully laid to heart, in all our 

 dealings with natural truth. 



O 



Up to York, the list of our migrant warblers 

 remains unbroken. There, or thereabout, the 

 nightingale drops behind. The rest cross the Tweed 

 for varying distances, thinning out more and more 

 as they pass farther north. The stronghold of the 

 blackcap seems to be the neighbourhood of 

 Durham, and it remains fairly numerous the 

 length of the Moray Firth, on the east coast. 

 The range of the garden - warbler, according to 

 present reports, is much the same. Both are found 

 sparingly, the Duke of Argyll informs me, in the 

 neighbourhood of Inveraray. 



Certain of the warblers are so much like others, 

 or are so retiring in their habits, that it is more 

 likely that they are confounded and overlooked, 

 than that they are absent. The common white- 

 throat alone may be reported, when both species 

 are present. The grasshopper - warbler is the 

 modestest of birds, keeping himself out of sight, 

 and deceiving all but the initiated with his insect- 

 like chirp; and the reed-warbler haunts the tall 

 marsh grass, which converts the sw r ampy islets of 

 our great streams into dense, and impenetrable 



