WOOD WARBLER 



enough ; a slight spreading of the wings and fluttering along 

 the ground, but nothing more ; nothing, in fact, that could not 

 be described as a natural retreat. It is possible, however, that 

 the emotional behaviour at this special time may exceed that 

 which I have hitherto observed, as it must be apparent 

 that my knowledge of the behaviour of the birds during this 

 period is exceedingly scanty. 



The male may almost be said to own two songs. The 

 one by w T hich he is usually recognised consists of a single 

 note uttered more and more rapidly in a slightly descending 

 scale until it culminates in a rapid trill ; the other, which 

 is heard less frequently, consists of a plaintive single note 

 uttered rather slowly in a descending scale. Whether we 

 are really justified in speaking of these two separate phases 

 as distinct is open to question. It is true that the one portion 

 is sometimes detached from the other, but when the bird is in 

 full song I am inclined to think that each goes to form part 

 of the whole. After the arrival of a female, the male becomes, 

 careless in his song, and more frequently than not utters the 

 last trill of the first phase and nothing mpre. 



The food of the species is similar, so far as insect life is 

 concerned, to that of the Willow Warbler or the Chirr-chaff ; 

 I have no evidence that fruit of any description is taken. 



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