BRITISH WARBLERS 



neither, I think, does any other interpretation. It simply 

 starts with the assumption of " one voice, one value," and 

 shows how the sounds produced, whether harsh, monotonous 

 or beautiful, may each in their own particular fashion possess 

 a similar meaning. So much for its use. 



We must now refer briefly to the question often asked as 

 to whether a young bird learns to sing or whether it sings 

 instinctively through racial preparation, as a duckling swims 

 instinctively when placed in water. Is song, that is to say, 

 a matter of tradition — handed down from parent to offspring — 

 or is it a matter of congenital endowment ? There are facts 

 placed on record — and I believe perfectly authentic facts — 

 which seem to show that tradition may play a larger part 

 than it is sometimes given credit for. Young birds reared in 

 confinement away from their own species, but in company with 

 other songsters, are said to reproduce only those notes which 

 they have been accustomed to hear. I have all along com- 

 bated the view that the young bird sings true to type just 

 because it has predominant opportunities, of hearing its 

 parents' notes, and despite the facts here alluded to, I still 

 think that each species has a definite congenital song. When 

 is the young bird supposed to learn its song — whilst in the 

 nest or during the winter months ? The former, one would 

 suppose, would be the more susceptible period, yet that is 

 precisely the time when the voices of many songsters are 

 heard the less frequently, if indeed they have not ceased 

 altogether. The Grasshopper Warbler, after a period of com- 

 parative silence, only recommences to sing when its young 

 have left the nest ; the Nightingale becomes well-nigh silent 

 when the time comes for the exercise of parental care ; the 

 Marsh Warbler's song grows more and more feeble at a 

 corresponding time, and so on. If therefore song is an 

 individual acquirement, a matter of imitation, what is there 

 to prevent the young from assimilating the notes of the more 

 vociferous individuals of other species in the vicinity of their 

 nest ? Nothing, I imagine, so long as we exclude the 



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