150 Gyngell : The Singing Time of Birds. 



at us one of the most varied of all little bird song-s, and sings it 

 all day and nig-ht. 



In similar haunts the Grasshopper Warbler, also just arrived, 

 daily and nightly imitates the noise produced by a great green 

 Grasshopper, singing by choice in the evening gloom. 



The Tree Pipit rises from a tree top and sings as it mounts 

 into the air, and then slowly descends with spread wings and 

 tail a song far superior to that of the Meadow Pipit, who some- 

 times imitates its habits. 



By the end of April the Corn Crake is calling in the meadows ; 

 the Sandpiper ' chants a joyous song ' ' along the river's stony 

 marge,' as Wordsworth says. The Curlew's weird whistling- 

 song is heard a mile away on the heathery moors, where from 

 a boggy hollow the Snipe rises in air and descends drumming. 



In the merry month of May the hedge-haunting Whitethroat 

 flits up a few yards into the air and sings ' Chew wit chi, chi, 

 chi witchy chew' before it drops into the hedge again. And we 

 may also now hear in similar haunts the Lesser Whitethroat, 

 whose song" reminds us of the Chaffinch, though a long way off. 

 Deep in the woods the Blackcap's voice sounds full and rich, 

 and the Garden Warbler's voice, not much inferior to the 

 Blackcap's, may be heard in similar haunts. 



Some birds sing most frequently when flying, and in this 

 respect none is more noticeable than the Lesser Redpoll, who 

 now returns to us in little parties, flitting over the tree-tops, 

 singing ' Chichi-chichi-^z^rr. ' This is our smallest Finch, and 

 the cock bird, with his crimson breast and crown and black 

 throat, is a bonny little fellow. Summer brings us the Turtle 

 Dove, whose purring voice, ^ Porre, porre,' we may now hear. 

 Another late summer visitor is the Nightjar, whose curious 

 vocal and instrumental sounds are best heard after nightfall, 

 when most other voices are hushed. 



June brings us no new voices. Indeed, now one by one the 

 songs will begin to fall off. At the beginning of this month we 

 may hear 30 or more different species singing during a day's 

 walk, but when the longest day is here many birds will be 

 heard before 3 a.m. ; but the number of species will be 

 reduced. 



Family cares are responsible for this, and it is chiefly the 

 singi)ig birds that have to spend every hour of daylight in 

 hunting food for the voung and themselves. The cock birds 

 are no doubt very good husbands, but when from five to seven 

 children all come into the world at once, he would be a 



Naturalist, 



