POETICAL LICENSE. 343 



to be sure, the wren also sometimes strikes up an occasional volun- 

 tary when we least expect it ; the lively Lilliputian in his song, as 

 in everything else, being a creature of unbridled impulse, guided 

 solely by the whim and caprice of the moment, as if in utter 

 contempt and disregard of the method and order by which other 

 birds are fain to regulate the conduct of their lives. Not the red- 

 breast alone, however, backed by the intermittent melodies of the 

 wren, who, Sims Reeves-like, only sings when the humour seizes 

 him, obstinately silent when you would expect him to sing, and as 

 obstinately singing when you would expect him to be silent ; but 

 the blackbird also, and chaffinch, the corn bunting and goldfinch, 

 have been of late delighting us with their music, in volume and 

 compass and exquisite finish hardly inferior, though so out of 

 season, to their most successful performances in spring and early 

 summer, which, be it noted, is tlie, season for wild-bird song at its 

 best. Our poets, as if by tacit arrangement and preconcert, do all 

 in their power to impress us with the notion that June is not only 

 the month of flower and leaf, but the great bird music month as 

 well, a mistake partly owing, no doubt, to their ignorance of bird 

 life, but mainly, we suspect, arising from the fact that " June " and 

 " tune " are such pat and perfect rhymes, that the poet dealing 

 with summer glories and summer joys never fails to pounce upon 

 them for instant use, without a thought of their inappropriateness, 

 so far at least as bird music is concerned. It is true that with 

 reference to bird song our poets are also liberal enough with their 

 " May " and " lay," which, as nearer to the mark, is somewhat 

 better. Better still, however, would be April, if our poets would 

 be correct, to which we might perhaps suggest " trill " as a rhyme ; 

 not a good rhyme to be sure, even if " April " could be decently 

 placed at the end of a line (as in the old " valentines ") without 

 being misaccented ; but we ornithologists could forgive the halting 

 rhyme and barbarous accent for the sake of the correctness of the 



