BRITISH WARBLERS 



the female; and she, at this time, seems to be decidedly 

 happier low down amongst the bushes than higher up amongst 

 the trees. She travels unconcernedly from bush to bush in 

 search of food, and he follows her, but, owing to his frequent 

 fits of excitement, often lags some little distance behind. 

 This is especially the case when she happens to pass through 

 some dense thicket, such as honeysuckle (Lonicera Peri- 

 clymenum), to which he has followed her, and in the middle 

 of which he is entirely concealed. In such a place he will 

 pause and burst forth into a curious jumble of musical and 

 unmusical strains. At first you hear a number of highly 

 pitched squealing sounds, then a pause, then a series of 

 perfect imitations of different species, such as the Nightingale, 

 Garden -Warbler, Whitethroat, Marsh -Warbler, Starling, 

 Linnet, or even the "chuckle" of the Blackbird ; then again 

 a pause, or perhaps without a break his true song, at first 

 uttered in a whisper that is scarcely audible, then rising and 

 swelling to a pitch of almost fury, and finally finishing with 

 his wonderful liquid and beautiful notes. Walking round the 

 bush in which he was thus singing, I have tried to get a 

 glimpse of him, generally without success, but occasionally 

 I have had an opportunity of watching him closely ; the dis- 

 tended throat and quivering body bear evidence to the 

 tremendous effort necessary to produce some of the sounds. 

 Some of the quiet whispering notes are produced with the 

 bill scarcely open at all, but they nevertheless seem to require 

 considerable pow T er. After singing thus for some minutes he 

 again bethinks himself of the female, who, in the meantime, 

 having passed on regardless of his performance, is possibly some 

 distance away. He therefore goes in search of her, and if 

 unable to find her, calls to her, a summons which promptly 

 elicits a note in reply ; or the reverse may be the case, when 

 she, missing his companionship, calls to him, opening her bill 

 very wide and producing a harsh grating sound. As a rule 

 he knows in which direction she has gone, and bursting out 

 of his hiding place and flying towards her with the slow 



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