BIRD-LIFE IN MARCH 219 



Mouse-like, turned his attention to crevices in the 

 bark for the lurking insects. The Yellow Bunting 

 is now uttering his short but pleasant notes, and 

 the Chaffinch is daily securing a fuller measure of 

 his song. 



The manner in which the songs of the Hedge 

 Sparrow and the Starling are uttered affords a 

 striking illustration of the variety which goes to 

 make bird life such an interesting and fascinating 

 study. 



The Warbler — for such he is, and not, as is so 

 generally supposed, a Finch, like the House and 

 Tree Sparrows — might easily pass unnoticed by 

 the casual observer, so quiet is he in his move- 

 ments, and so secluded in the Hawthorn hedge, 

 because of his sober dress harmonising with the 

 brown and grey twigs. There the gentle little 

 creature perches within a dozen yards of me as I 

 write these lines, singing that delicate but ex- 

 tremely pleasant warble which many of us know 

 and love so well. 



How different is the manner of utterance of 

 the mimicking Starling! He seems to do every- 

 thing possible to attract the attention and notice 

 of the passer-by as he perches on a neighbouring 

 chimney-pot; he seems to revel in smoke and 

 smuts, and the more one notices him the more 

 he appears to enlarge upon his extraordinary 

 vocabulary of utterances. The vocal powers of 



