140 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



that of a hedge-sparrow, it was of a bluish tinge, 

 etc. I have never myself made any observation 

 either in proof or disproof of this statement. If 

 it is correct, and I have no reason to doubt that it 

 is so, it is, to say the least, one of the most 

 remarkable things in natural history. 



We annually look forward to the arrival of the 

 cuckoo as the harbinger of spring. For the first 

 few days its note is but little heard, but after a 

 time there are few hours in the twenty-four in 

 which it is silent. I have heard it as late as between 

 eleven and twelve o'clock at ni^ht. Cuckoos are 



o 



very abundant in the neighbourhood of my home, 

 and, I am almost ashamed to confess, there are times 

 when I could wish them silent. Fond as I am 

 of all birds, it is quite possible to have too much 

 of a good thing. I may be thought a heretic, but 

 I am forced to admit that I have positively been 

 bored to death with the songs of nightingales. 

 I was staying on a visit with a friend residing in 

 Surrey ; the window of my bedroom looked out 

 upon a part of the garden thickly planted with 

 tall shrubs, and in these the nightingales assembled 

 every evening. Neither before nor since have 

 I ever heard such a chorus of these birds. At 

 first I was enchanted, but when, night after 

 night, their music prevented my sleeping, I 

 found myself heartily wishing they would take 

 their departure. My room was small, and the 

 weather too hot to admit of my closing the 

 window. There are not many people, I take it, 



