The Washington herald., 1913-11-09
Time IN England Spent with SIR Edward Grey Among the
Larks and Nightmgales Accounted the Most
Interesting Period Of Trip.

ward. steadily singing and soaring for
several minutes, and then return to the
point whence they had started. As my
companion pointed out. they exactly full
filled wordsworth's description; they
SCARED but did not roam.
It is quite impossible wholly to differ
entiate birds voice from its habits and
surroundings. Although in the larl's song
there are occasional musical notes. the
song as q whole Is not very musical;
but It Is 50 joyous. buoyant and un-
broken, and uttered under such condi-
tIons, as fully to entitle the bird to the
place he occupies with both poet and
prose writer.
The most musical singer we heard was
the blackcap warbler. To my ear Its
song seemed more musical than that Of
the nightingale. 1t was astonlshingiy
powerful for 80 small bird; in volume
and continuity IL does not come up to
the songs Of the thrushes and OF certain
other birds, but in quality, as an isolated
bit Of melody, It can hardly be sur
passed.
Among the minor singers the robin was
noticeable. We all know this pretty little
bird from the books, and was prepared
to ind him as friendly and attractive as
he proved to be, but had not realized
how well he sang. It IL not a loud song,
but very musical and attractive, and the
bird is said to sing practically all through
the year. The song Of the wren interest
ed me much, because II was not in the
least like that of our house wren, but, on
the contrary, like that of our winter
wren. The theme Is the same as the win
ter wren's. but the song did not seem TO
g. h. hill MI Iy hat af
the tiny singer Of the North Woods.
The sedge warbler sang in the thick
reeds a mocking yentriloquial lay, which
reminded me at times OF the less pro-
nounced parts Of our yellov-breasted
chats song. The cuckoo's cry was sin
gulariy attractive and musical. far more
50 than the rolling, many times repeated
note of our raincrov.
We did not reach the inn at Brocken-
hurst until about . o'clock, just at night
fall, and. a few minutes before that We
heard a nightjar. 1t did not sound in the
least like either our whippoorwill or our
uttering a long-continued call
Of one or two syIIables repeated over and
over. The chaffinch was very much in
evidence. continually chanting its un-
important little ditty. ] was pleased 20
see the bold, masteTful missel thrush,
the stormcock, as IL is often called; but
this bird breeds and sings in the early
s2ring, when the weather is still tempes-
tuous, and had long been silent when We
saw IT, The starlings, rocks, and jack
DAVIS did not sing. and their calls were
attractive merely as the calls Of our
Zrackles are attractive; and the other
birds that We heard sing, though they
played their part in the general chorus,
we're performers of no especial note, like
our tree-creepers pine warblers, and
The great spring
,horus had already begun TO subside, but
The woods and fields were still vocal with
beautiful bird music, the country was
very lovely, the inn as comfortable as
possible. ard the bath and supper very
snjoyable after our tramp; and alto
yether / passed no pleassnter twenty
Jour hours during my entire European
rip.