I92I. BuRKiTT — Song and Nesting of Birds. i2i 



Willow Wren. — I have referred to mateless singers of 

 this species before. I had one this year from April 27th 

 to June 30th. Doubts have been expressed about knowing 

 a mateless bird ; but apart from other signs, surely failure 

 to find him in any day of any month with any companion 

 or feeding young proclaims his state. 



Ring Dove. — That this bird has a perfectly regular 

 song is, I suppose, well known, but I have never seen it 

 even hinted at. It is in sets of " coos " 4, 5, 5, i, as 

 follows : — 1234, 12345, 12345, I. • The song is often 

 incomplete. There is also the low double courting (?) note. 



Corncrake. — This bird seems to cease to sing when 

 the brood is hatched. I have not precise data. Why does 

 this bird when singing move the whole upper part of its 

 head, instead of the lower mandible ? Each bird round 

 me seemed to require about 5 acres of suitable territory. 



The overwhelming impression conveyed to me about 

 song is — [a) the will to mate ; (b) in a certain territory. 

 By the will to mate, I would cover an interpretation, 

 not necessarily confined to a mateless bird. Another 

 important point which I would emphasize, as it has already 

 been brought out by Mr. Howard, is that the control of 

 breeding seems exercised by the female. It seems to me 

 that it is mainly due to the discretion (speaking humanly) 

 of the female and not of the male that the young are 

 produced at suitable seasons, that some species have more 

 broods than others, that in different parts of the kingdom 

 the same species may vary in the number of broods. The 

 males appear to desire to mate at many times but are 

 not accepted by the female. This is mainly to my mind 

 evinced by what I will term residual song but also by the 

 attempts at courting or keeping in female company (out 

 of the season) and by animosity between the males. This 

 residual song means song that is not followed by breeding, 

 and is made in greater or less quantity varying with the 

 species, and with the season (summer, autumn or winter) 



