THE SINGERS 57 



sure in the singing, triumph in brilliant execution, 

 this, whatever the origin of the habit, is often the 

 motive for song in birds to-day. I quite see that as 

 the male bird delights in singing well, so his mate or 

 mate-to-be may delight in listening to songs. But I 

 doubt whether the song really has such a great effect 

 in securing a mate as some have believed. If it had, 

 surely we should more often notice the hen birds pay- 

 ing marked attention to their singing suitors, critically 

 listening to the performers. But in Nature the obvious 

 listener is not the courted hen bird, rather some rival 

 and interrupting singer. 



From the thrush I turn to the summer warblers, 

 and I begin naturally with the nightingale. Once I 

 thought the nightingale was distinctly more a day 

 than night singer that often he sang only by 

 spurts after dark. I still think, could we measure 

 the volume of his day song, we might find it exceed 

 his night song ; and the same may be true of another 

 musician of the dark, the amazing little sedge-warbler. 

 Both birds must give part of the night to sleep, a part 

 as long at least as that which is given, during day- 

 light, to the pursuit of food. Both seem to sleep and 

 wake fitfully after dark, and I have never understood 

 why the wood should be loud with nightingales one 

 hour or one night, and the next be still. Like the 

 sedge-warblers, the nightingales will sing on the inkiest 

 May nights and on the brightest : the state of the light 

 seems little to affect their singing. Nor am I sure 



