SONGS AND MUSIC 



ONLY in June may you hear all the songs and notes of birds, 

 young and old. There is more of the zest of spring in many 

 May songs ; and in the middle of June other birds than the 

 cuckoo change their tune for the worse before descending 

 into a croak or to silence. But the opening of June is the 

 only time perhaps when the chorus is quite full, when the 

 turtle-doves croon behind the leaves, and the pied flycatcher 

 ripples on his garden perch, and the swifts scream in the high 

 air, and the corn-bunting gurgles his few rough notes, and 

 the robin calls fussily to its young. There are at any rate 

 more noises, if not more song, in early June than at any other 

 date. This is the time when a real knowledge of song and 

 note tells. Earlier one has at least a chance of watching 

 the singer, though it is hard enough even so to mark his 

 identity. A silhouette against a skyline can give as little in- 

 formation as any object of sight, but it gives some. In June 

 the bulk of the songs and sounds come from mysterious 

 depths of green. You may spend a day in seeking the singer, 

 and at the end have scarcely caught the glint of his wing. 

 Even the nightingale, which loves a low perch and is not 

 very shy, is hard to watch with any distinctness. A wry- 

 neck is virtually invisible. 



