17 



the young birds, they must certainly during rough 

 weather have a particularly happy time of it, as 

 their cradle sways backwards and forwards with 

 every breath of wind. 



Like their neighbour, the Sedge Warbler, they 

 are remarkably noisy, though not extremely 

 melodious songsters. During the day both species 

 confine themselves to an occasional cackling note, 

 evidently reserving their harmony for the evening 

 concert, which usually commences as soon as the 

 sun gets low. Hickling Broad, in the east of 

 Norfolk, is one of the spots where this may be 

 heard to perfection any fine evening in June. 



The din that is caused by several hundreds of 

 these birds singing and chattering at the same time, 

 together with the croaking of the frogs, the jarring 

 of the Night Hawks, and the drumming of the 

 Snipes is perfectly deafening, and would never be 

 credited by those who have not heard it. By about 

 11 p.m., the greater part of the performers are quiet, 

 but the slightest sound, even the slushing of a large 

 pike on the look-out for his supper, is enough to 

 make them break out again in full chorus. 



During cold and stormy weather they remain 

 remarkably silent, hardly a sound, except the 

 occasional scream of a Coot or Moorhen, being 

 heard through the swamps, to break the monotony 

 of the sighing of the wind through the reed-beds 

 and the splash of the rain in the open water. 



The old birds, with their young, were obtained 

 on Heigham Sounds, in Norfolk, in June, 1871. 



BLACK CAP. 



Case 25. 



The Black Cap arrives in the spring, passes the 

 summer in our plantations and gardens, and leaves 

 in the autumn, soon after its young are sufficiently 

 strong to provide for themselves. 



