Edwin Leonard Gill

“ Many sportsmen are keen and accurate observers of game-birds and wildfowl, and yet know practically nothing of the other birds they so constantly meet; while people who have earned and deserve a reputation as good ornithologists on account of their wide general acquaintance with birds and their eggs, are often quite unable to recognize any but the most obvious of bird notes; a fact which at once discounts the value of their records of the arrival of summer migrants. It is remarkable, for example, how few people can distinguish the song of the Redstart ”

“ There are people who believe they can invariably tell the Garden Warbler's song from the Blackcap's; in fact, the writer until recently held that opinion in regard to himself. But his confidence was shaken in the early summer of this year (1901) by experience in a large Yorkshire woodland, where both these birds were singing in some number. There is, of course, no difficulty whatever in distinguishing the typical Garden Warbler's song from the typical Blackcap's; the difficulty comes in when the discovery is made that the Blackcap is in the habit of singing them both. ”

“ It is a sight that in a measure prepares one's mind for the startling conclusions reached by Gätke, and makes it a little easier to understand how such small and delicate birds as these can conduct with so much speed and success their long migrations overseas. ”