THE SINGERS 71 



red tail pulsate with the exertion or ecstasy of 

 song, and the fourth duck and thrill. 



A charming sight in the Hampshire woods and 

 thick lanes in July is the family of warblers, young 

 and old birds keeping close company. I have a 

 fancy that the lesser whitethroat family makes the 

 prettiest of these groups. A feature of several of 

 the warblers is a choiceness and grace impossible 

 to convey in terms. " Delicacy " is a word one feels 

 to fit exactly for a blackcap, a garden warbler, a 

 lesser whitethroat. " Exquisite " is another word 

 which one cannot do without when touching on 

 the qualities of the refinest summer birds. These 

 are words we ought to use sparingly. There is 

 such a thing as a word-conscience; and to make 

 stale by everyday use the few choice, subtle, and 

 curiously expressive words which language affords 

 offends this conscience. But it is hard to be sparing 

 of the use of them if we speak of many birds, 

 flowers, insects. They will come to the tongue, are 

 always in the thought when a blackcap or wood 

 warbler is concerned. 



The lesser whitethroats will take their young to 

 a high coppice, and it is not hard to get close to 

 the family whilst it is busy feeding on caterpillars 

 among the maple or oak underwood. The old birds 

 utter a low warning note to the young, which will 

 suffer one to approach within two or three yards. 

 Whilst the search for grubs goes on, and the young 



