BRITISH WARBLERS 



their offspring, even under the most trying circumstances; 

 for when I have been sitting with a young one on my hand 

 they silently came and peeped through the branches, dis- 

 appeared for a moment, and looked again from the opposite 

 direction, but made no sound, neither did they attempt in any 

 way to entice me away. At other times when, attracted by 

 the call, I have attempted to find the young, the female has 

 shown considerable anxiety. She would utter a note which 

 was a peremptory signal for the young to keep quiet, neither 

 would any one of them, although scattered and a considerable 

 distance apart, call again until she gave another signal; 

 waiting for which signal considerable patience on my part 

 was required, for the slightest movement would make her 

 suspicious, hidden though she appeared to be, and when her 

 suspicions were aroused she would immediately come up to 

 the top of the gorse bush on which she was and watch my 

 movements closely, nor were, her suspicions allayed until I 

 had kept quiet for a considerable time. She seems herself 

 to do all the feeding of the young after they have left the 

 nest, the males leading a lazy life, singing and playing with 

 one another. One instance, and this a curious one, I have 

 seen of the male feeding the young when almost full grown. 

 It was in a large field of clover, and I could find no sign of 

 the female at all. The young were scattered considerably, 

 and at intervals between the feeding the male sat on a post 

 and sang. When actually feeding one of the young he would 

 spread out his tail and wings and slowly wave them up and 

 down. The young, when able to fly a little, occasionally come 

 out of their hiding, but if pursued and made to fly they very 

 soon get tired, and if driven into an open piece of ground, 

 where there is no cover for them to conceal themselves 

 in, they become completely lost. This I have proved by 

 manoeuvring them on to patches of burnt gorse : here they 

 would run aimlessly about and make no attempt to conceal 

 themselves. 



I have once seen, on June 17th, two of the adult birds 



J22 



