I 5 6 Summer Studies of Birds and Books CHAP. 



by imitating the sound made when a snail-shell is 

 being broken against a stone; from this humble 

 beginning, used perhaps as an invitation to others to 

 come and feast on snails, it has gradually developed 

 its splendid song. The Swallow's note resembles the 

 sound made by the breaking of the wing-cases of 

 beetles; the harsh tones of the Rails suggest the 

 crushing of the tender shells on which they partly 

 subsist. But one Kail, the Corncrake, has a still 

 stranger origin assigned for its familiar double crake : 

 it took a fancy to imitate the noise made by a cow 

 in browsing, whose big rough tongue rasps up the 

 grass, first on one side of the mouth and then on the 

 other, producing a kind of rhythmical cadence. The 

 Starling's " whining " sounds are like the noise made 

 when a bird pulls a large worm out of the ground. 

 The Wood-wren's song reminds this writer of the 

 sound caused by the two branches of a tree rubbing 

 against each other. The Kobin's song is like the 

 gurgling of water, says Mr. Witchell; and adds, 

 " The Eobin is frequently found near water " ! 1 



Surely it is hopeless to try to discover the ulti- 

 mate origin of individual songs. It is little or no 

 good to publish mere guesses which cannot possibly 



1 See also an interesting paper on " Bird Song and its Scientific 

 Value," in the Proceedings of the Cotteswold Field Club, which 

 Mr. Witchell kindly sent me. I so fully appreciate the value of 

 his observations and records, that I much regret having to differ 

 from the conclusions he has based on them. 



