JUNE JOYS 131 



grain-eaters, such as sparrows and greenfinches, 

 are led to more open ground, with a better chance 

 of escape, at least from this enemy. 



It is the care of the nest and young which 

 silences so many sweet voices in June, and compels 

 even the finest singers, like human vocalists in 

 similar circumstances, to retire to domestic medi- 

 ocrity. But in more than one species the love of 

 song, doubtless at first due to courtship, seems to 

 survive it, and to be almost as much a source of 

 artistic inspiration as it is in man himself. The 

 starling, robin, and skylark afford familiar in- 

 stances of artistic song produced when courtship 

 has long ceased, and embellished with all the rich 

 variety of tone and music distinguishing the 

 species. In the starling the variations are chiefly 

 due to pure mimicry ; with robin and skylark 

 mimicry is a subordinate incident. Mr. Edmund 

 Selous relates how the oyster-catcher, when court- 

 ing, seems to be so intent upon its vocal perform- 

 ances that these apparently become of more 

 importance to it than the emotion which caused 

 them. " I suggest that this may be sometimes 

 actually the case in Nature ; that a movement or a 



