76 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



Thrush, Eobin, Goldcrest, Linnet, Nightingale, Garden Warbler, 

 Greater Whitethroat, Greenfinch, and Nuthatch, and he will 

 have some idea of the wonderful powers possessed by this British 

 Mocking Bird. If I had not listened for one whole day to the 

 marvellous singing of this great feathered musician, I would not 

 have believed it possible for an individual performer to possess, 

 and go through, such a repertoire. He is singing as I write. 

 Each moment he changes his note, now it is the mellifluous dirge 

 of the Blackbird,' now the shrill high-pitched love-call of the 

 Nuthatch. Now he is imitating to perfection the song of the 

 Thrush, now the needle-like notes of the Goldcrest ; now the 

 rich song of the Kobin ; now the scratchy, impetuous notes of 

 the Greater Whitethroat ; now the well-known hurried babble 

 of the Linnet ; now the characteristic notes of Philomel himself ; 

 now the fluty song of another prince of musicians, the Garden 

 Warbler ; now the rustic notes of the Greenfinch. 



It is no idle fancy on my part, for let another observer continue 

 the story. Charles Dixon writes in " Our Favourite Song Birds " 

 thus : " The bird seems literally overflowing with music, and 

 warbles almost continuously the livelong day Of all the Warbler 

 band the Blackcap, to our mind, is the most splendid singer, and 

 his melody is absolutely unrivalled. The notes, clear and flute- 

 like, flow forth in a perfect torrent of wild, sweet melody, full of 

 the most pleasing variations, so loudly uttered that the listener 

 is often led to think that a much larger and more powerful singer 

 is producing them. . . . The modulations of the song are ex- 

 quisite. First, it may be, the song is heard in a low key, as if 

 the author of it were a hundred yards away ; then gradually 

 it becomes louder and louder, giving us the impression that the 

 bird is coming nearer, until finally we are greeted with a torrent 

 of sound, as if Blackbird, Song Thrush, Wren, Kobin, and Warbler 

 were all singing in concert. But the Blackcap has been stationary 

 all the time ; it may be not half a dozen yards away, and in 

 amazement we learn that this wondrous music, now low and soft, 

 and now rich and loud and full, has issued from the same little 

 throat at one unchanging distance." Thus writes Charles 

 Dixon and where I have failed to describe he has splendidly 

 succeeded. That Dixon has heard the Blackcap sing, as I have 

 done, is certain. 



Later in the year, after temporary cessation, the Blackcap 

 commences to entertain us again with its rich notes, and when 

 there is deathlike stillness becoming more daily apparent, one 



