BRITISH WARBLERS 



hopped about, spreading his tail, waving his wings, singing 

 and warbling, but was vigorously pursued by both parents. 



In order to see whether the young are capable of recognis- 

 ing the note of their own parents, I have placed them on the 

 ground or held them in my hand some distance from the nest, 

 and in the territory of another pair. But hitherto I have 

 been unable to obtain any satisfactory results ; for it is 

 necessary that one or other of the pair should use the note 

 which exercises such influence on the young. The only 

 reliable method would be to transfer a young one into the 

 territory of a pair who had offspring of much the same size. 

 The song of the male has little influence. 



When the young have just left the nest the anxiety of 

 the parents is even greater than before. They are now more 

 or less scattered, and this is especially the case if their depar- 

 ture, on account of any alarm, has been a hurried one. If 

 you happen to be near them the excitement of the parents is 

 intense ; but if by holding one in your hand, or even touching 

 it, which is sometimes sufficient, you cause it to utter its 

 alarm-note, this excitement apparently reaches its limit. 

 There is little doubt that it is the limit, since the actions, 

 especially in the case of the male, take the same form as at 

 every other time of extreme excitement. Both parents utter 

 unusually plaintive squeals, which gradually die away, and 

 they flutter about on the ground; the male, hanging on a 

 branch near you, twists and turns about, sometimes head 

 downwards, flirting his tail, erecting his head feathers, and 

 uttering notes which are impossible to describe. When the 

 young are thus scattered it is interesting to notice the effect 

 a certain note of the parents has upon them ; their whole aim 

 is to go in the direction of the sound, the attraction seeming 

 almost irresistible. For the purpose of seeing the effect of 

 this note, I have taken a young one when unable to fly, but 

 only to scramble about among the branches, and having placed 

 it upon the ground some distance away, have awaited the 

 results. Its efforts to approach the sound were remarkable 



