86 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



through whose mean's I first made the acquaintance, in 

 Ireland, of this unrivalled songster. I ought to add 

 that, a few days after, I went out to Bray, and stood on 

 the bridge near St. Valerie; and although I did not 

 hear the Blackcap there, yet I did hear it a very few 

 minutes' walk further on, just inside the entrance gate 

 to Lord Monck's demesne at the Dargle, and I have 

 gone to hear it there every season since. 



It is remarkable that Mr. Barrington, of Fassaroe, a 

 well-known naturalist, had noted its breeding in his 

 grounds during successive years ; and this would show 

 that this particular locality is much favoured by those 

 birds, as Fassaroe is only a very short distance from 

 the Dargle demesne. Some years afterwards my boy 

 Charlie and I heard the Blackcap sing at Bingen on the 

 Rhine, and there only, as it seemed to me, did he give 

 us his entire song without any abbreviation. It still 

 rings in my ears, with its invariable conclusion, which 

 sounded like " tidy-turn ; " it was indeed a " delightful " 

 song. 



The song of the Blackcap is, to use a phrase of 

 Mr. Harting, " simply delightful." There is something 

 wonderfully rich and mellow in it ; but to hear it in 

 perfection, the bird must stop and warble at some 

 length : for when, searching for food, it roams half 

 hopping and half creeping through the trees, it only 

 emits a few rich notes, which can give but a faint idea 

 of the real power and beauty of the song. I first heard 

 the Blackcap sing near Clifton Suspension Bridge. I 

 had never heard the bird before, and thought at first 

 that I was probably listening to the Nightingale, until a 

 sight of the bird showed me my mistake. 



