WARBLERS. 109 



have affirmed that he is a great imitator of the notes of the Black- 

 bird, Thrush, and other of our finest choristers of the groves, but 

 Macgillivray does not agree with them, he says, "If you listen 

 attentively, you will be persuaded that the bird is no imitator, but 

 that it sends forth in gladness the spontaneous, unpremeditated, and 

 unborrowed strains that nature has taught it to emit as the expres- 

 sion of its feelings. The song, if divided into fragments, would 

 suffice for half a score of ordinary warblers, and is of surprising 

 compass, and melodious beyond description. None of the notes seem 

 to resemble those of the Blackbird, although they have been so repre- 

 sented; nor are they so plaintive as those of the Thrush. The song 

 is decidedly cheerful, but not merry like that of the Lark, and is 

 therefore not apt to cherish melancholy, but rather to encourage 

 hope, and induce a placid and contented frame of mind, in which 

 are combined admiration of the performer, and a kind of affection 

 towards it, which renders it almost impossible for you to level your 

 death-dealing tube at it." The only points in which the song of the 

 Blackcap seems inferior to that of the Nightingale, are its volume, 

 and the distinctness of its articulation. This bird sings very constantly, 

 and may be heard late at night and very early in the morning, but 

 it will cease on the slightest disturbance, and hide itself in the densest 

 parts of the thicket or shrubbery, where it will remain until the in- 

 truder on its haunts has departed, or will silently withdraw to some 

 more secure retreat. When the young are hatched, the song becomes 

 broken and less melodious, gradually subsiding into the usual call- 

 note, which resembles the syllables tak, tak, frequently and sharply 

 uttered. The female sometimes sings, but not so loudly or so sweetly 

 as the male. 



This species is most extensively distributed, being found in all the 

 temperate countries of Europe. In Germany it is called the Monk, 

 from its hood or cap; the French call it Fauvette a tete noir the 

 Fauvette with the black head. In many parts of Africa, and in Persia, 

 Java, and Japan it is well known, as also in Madeira and the Azores; 

 in the latter islands the female is called Red Hood. It arrives in 

 England about the middle of April, and departs in September, but 

 a few individuals remain throughout the winter. One was caught in 

 Bedwardine, near Worcester, on the 20th. January, 1843; another near 

 Dover, in January, 1847; and a third in Norfolk, in December, 1852; 

 others are stated to have been seen in the neighbourhood of Bristol 

 during two successive winters. The counties in which it is most 

 plentiful are those along the southern coast from Sussex to the Land's 

 End, but it has been met with in all parts of the country. It visits 



