BRITISH WARBLERS 



a raising of feathers, a spreading and jerking of the tail, an 

 extension of the wings, and excited singing. This latter 

 phase is by no means infrequent, the song at such a time 

 being just as beautiful as under ordinary conditions, though 

 clearly the expression of an entirely different emotion. One 

 such commotion I will now describe, although the cause was 

 shrouded in mystery owing to the density of the foliage and 

 vegetation, coupled with a scarcity of light, and it must 

 remain but an incident until fortune again favours and enables 

 me to witness another of a similar kind. It happened in 

 Texel, in one of the numerous osier beds that are dotted about 

 the island. Listening at daybreak to the song of a male in a 

 small osier bed my ear occasionally caught, coming from afar, 

 the unmistakable notes of other males. These sounds I 

 located in a larger plantation, but as it was then past 4 a.m. 

 I determined to visit the place at daylight the following morn- 

 ing. This I did, and on arriving at about 2.30 a.m., heard 

 violently excited singing proceeding from the throat of more 

 than one male. At first there appeared to be three birds, but 

 ultimately I came to the conclusion that there were only two. 

 Making my way amongst the bushes I approached to within a 

 few yards of first one and then the other, and found each one 

 restlessly moving about within a small area. They fearlessly 

 perched on the branches a few feet above my head, and by 

 looking upward I could see the outline of their forms against 

 the sky and make out their attitudes, which represented 

 intense emotion of some kind. Their vocal productions were 

 remarkable and defy description ; it seemed as if their whole 

 strength was concentrated upon the effort to produce the 

 sounds. One listened to the true song of the species, then to 

 perfect imitations of first one species, then another, and one 

 saw, whilst the song was being produced, the wings partially 

 expanded and jerked upwards, or even waved with a slow 

 motion up and down. Both males were often within a short 

 distance of one another, and fighting there may have been at 

 times, but the density of the foliage and scarcity of light 



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