44 THE WARBLERS 



The italics alone are mine ! Can anything too strong be said in 

 condemnation of those who " collect " on such principles ? But if a 

 St. Francis were to arise from the dead and preach to them instead of 

 to " his little brothers, the birds," I doubt if ever he would make any 

 impression ! 



The flight of the Dartford-warbler is feeble and undulating as it 

 flits from bush to bush, sometimes hovering an instant over the point 

 of gorse on which it means to alight, spreading the tail fan-wise for a 

 moment. This appendage, like that of the warblers in general, is very 

 expressive of emotion, being frequently jerked upwards if its owner is 

 seriously disturbed in mind. Mr. H. Alexander tells me he has only 

 once seen them mount high up into the air, and that was about the 

 time of pairing, when he watched a couple flying together to a height 

 of about sixty feet or more. 



The scolding call-note, so often described as "pit it chou" changes 

 frequently to "pit, cha, cha" a vibrating sound like the low, angry 

 " chur " of the whitethroat. This note is not confined to the nesting 

 season only, for the bird will scold in the same way if disturbed during 

 the winter months. 



The song of the male is not obtrusive, but rather a subdued liquid 

 warble, which, if undisturbed, he will keep up for a considerable time. 

 Short bursts of song are often uttered on the wing, but he does not hurl 

 himself into the air when singing like the ecstatic whitethroat. The 

 song is best heard towards sunset ; then, perched on a spray of gorse, 

 the bird pours out its whole soul. Now and again he sings in the 

 open, from the outermost branch of a pine tree, and occasionally 

 executes a kind of aerial dance which more or less resembles that of 

 the whitethroat. Mr. Kearton says "Should any object calculated 

 to excite the surprise of the male happen to be near the nest when 

 he returns, he may sometimes be heard to sing, even while his bill 

 is crowded with insects." l 



Males, reared by Montagu in captivity, began to sing with the 



1 Nature Pictures, 102. 



