AN UNWELCOME INTEUDEE. 99 



a quarter of a minute, but one spell of it lasted for forty seconds 

 by my watch. It is said to continue sometimes for as much as 

 twenty minutes, but I have never been fortunate enough to hear 

 it for anything approaching to that length of time. 



Our interview was not to last very long. It unluckily 

 happened thai my little terrier, who accompanies me in all my 

 walks, and i^ trained to come to heel when anything special is 

 to be observed, had been out of sight when I broke the hedge ; 

 and now he must needs come poking and snuffling through the 

 saplings just as if a Grasshopper Warbler were as fair game as 

 a mole or a water rat. Nevertheless so astonishing was the 

 boldness of this bird that he allowed the dog to hunt about 

 for some time around him without being in the least discon- 

 certed. When at last he made off he retreated in excellent 

 order, merely half flying, half creeping with his fan-like tail 

 distended, until he disappeared in the thick underwood. I 

 would have taken the dog under my arm and tried for another 

 interview, which no doubt he would have given me, if I had not 

 been obliged to depart in order to catch a train to Oxford. 

 This bird was undoubtedly a male who was awaiting the 

 arrival of the females : just at this time they not only betray 

 themselves more easily by the loudness of their reel, but also 

 are well known to be less shy of showing themselves than at 

 any other period of their stay with us. This is the case with 

 most of our summer migrants. Only a few minutes before 

 I found this bird, I had been watching a newly-arrived cock 

 nightingale, who had not yet found his mate, and was content 

 to sing to me from the still leafless bough of an oak-tree, 



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