BRITISH WARBLERS 



At such times I have heard them imitate the Whitethroat, 

 Blackbird and Chaffinch, and at other times the Tree Pipit, 

 while once I remember hearing one imitating the call-note 

 of the Partridge perfectly. They can also, when singing, pro- 

 duce a ventriloquistic effect, but do not do so very frequently. 

 The ordinary call-note used by both sexes is a rather harsh 

 crackling note, difficult to describe ; the female when mating 

 has rather a different note to the male, and the young when 

 fully grown differ again somewhat from both their parents. 



The call-note — this is rather a vague term, in reality 

 meaning very little — is used by both sexes all the summer, 

 and when listening by the side of a reed-bed on hot summer 

 afternoons it is frequently the only expression of bird-life one 

 hears. Thus they keep calling, sometimes with the single 

 note, sometimes with a treble note quickly uttered in a 

 descending scale, as they wander along in search of food, 

 apparently not troubling about an answer to their call, but 

 uttering it mechanically at varying intervals. Any sudden 

 noise or disturbance, even the throwing of a stone into the 

 rushes, is often enough to cause them to sing. 



In the latter part of August and the first half of September, 

 that is to say, in the last few weeks before they leave this 

 country, they are much quieter, rarely singing, but instead 

 skulking in the undergrowth, and are therefore difficult to 

 see. As they move about you can hear them occasionally 

 calling to one another, but showing themselves very little, 

 evidently finding plenty of food amongst the stems of the 

 reeds and rushes. 



Climatic conditions do not seem to affect them very much, 

 but during very wet weather their song is not so frequent 

 nor so vigorous, neither do they appear to be very happy 

 themselves, but are rather more inclined to mope and are 

 considerably less active. 



Their food seems to consist entirely of insects, and during 

 the few months they are with us food of this description is 

 never lacking. They search for it chiefly low down amongst 



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