IMPRESSIONS OF SOME ENGLISH BIRDS. 155 



the lark's song, in the quality or in the manner of it, 

 that is not sketched or suggested in some voice lower 

 in the choir, and the tone and compass of the war- 

 blers mounts in regular gradation from the clinking 

 note of the chiffchaff up to the nightingale. Several 

 of the warblers sing at night, and several of the con- 

 stituents of the lark sing on the wing. On the lark's 

 side, the birds are remarkable for gladness and ec- 

 stacy, and are more creatures of the light and of the 

 open spaces ; on the side of the nightingale there is 

 more pure melody and more a love for the twilight 

 and the privacy of arboreal life. Both the famous 

 songsters are representative as to color, exhibiting 

 the prevailing gray and dark tints. A large number 

 of birds, I noticed, had the two white quills in the 

 tail characteristic of the lark. 



I found that I had over-estimated the bird-music 

 to be heard in England in midsummer. It appeared 

 to be much less than our own. The last two or three 

 weeks of July were very silent ; the only bird I was 

 sure of hearing in my walks was the yellowhammer ; 

 while, on returning home early in August, the birds 

 made such music about my house that they woke me 

 up in the morning. The song-sparrow and bush- 

 sparrow were noticeable till in September, and the 

 red-eyed vireo and warbling vireo were heard daily 

 till in October. 



On the whole I may add that I did not anywhere 

 in England hear so fine a burst of bird-song as I have 

 heard at home, and I listened long for it and atten- 



