BRITISH WARBLERS 



a second female the two males have a scolding contest, facing 

 one another with tails outspread and feathers raised. I do 

 not recollect having seen the two males actually righting, such 

 contests apparently ending in scolding only. 



When excited the males will even sing as they fly. A 

 female may join a pair that are quietly feeding, and when 

 this occurs the male protests in a half-hearted manner, 

 uttering his call-note quickly and turning about on the 

 branches. 



Most of the young are hatched during the first or second 

 week in June, and the male shares, equally with the female, 

 the duties of tending them. The male is now most excitable, 

 and if an individual of another species approaches the nest 

 too closely, immediately darts off in pursuit. When brooding- 

 he w T ill not leave until almost touched, then flutters off, runs 

 about the ground, squeals, and imitates the notes of other 

 species. 



Both of the parents are energetic, but in the presence of 

 danger exhibit somewhat different characteristics. The male 

 is always the bolder, and consequently it is a more difficult 

 matter to persuade the female to overcome her alarm and 

 approach her offspring when one is near the nest. This lack 

 of courage on her part is very marked at all stages of their 

 growth, whether they are just hatched or on the point of 

 leaving the nest, or even after they have flown and all 

 capable to some extent of escaping any clanger. When, 

 therefore, you first arrive at the nest you will find that the 

 male, after making a few half-hearted efforts to reach it from 

 different sides, will, while still protesting — which sometimes 

 takes the form of singing even with his bill full of larvae — 

 make a dash at the nest, and while watching you carefully will 

 dispose of the food, hurriedly placing it in the nearest open 

 gape. With each successful effort his courage increases, and 

 he thus becomes calmer, and before long feeds his offspring 

 naturally. The case, however, is very different with the 

 female. She arrives with her bill full of larvae, disappears 



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