Henry Eliot Howard

“ One male darts off after another one, pursuing him with very rapid flight into some thick bush; here he chases him up and down and along the branches with tail outspread and wings extended and slowly flapping, his behaviour being exactly similar to that during courtship, occasionally making use of a very curious note, much like the scolding of the Garden Warbler (Sylvia hortensis) when its nest is approached ”

“ 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 male Chiffchaff, before the arrival of the female sometimes seems to be seized with a sudden ecstasy. He spreads his tail and jerks his wings, singing to himself quickly and quietly; also when a hawk approaches his breeding-quarters too closely he will fly into the air, slowly flapping his wings, and hurriedly singing in a similar manner to his courtship. I will give one other instance: The male Blackcaps, when excited with one another, or with another species, such as Sylvia hortensis, assume the same positions as when courting the females. ”

“ I was inclined to partly attribute their ventriloquism; for when unconscious of being watched, they stand huddled up on the ground, their heads drawn close into their bodies, wings drooping, feathers loose and eyes half closed, and off and on they raise their heads for a moment, open their beaks and utter their little squeak, turning their head in expectation of food first one way then another, apparently unconscious of the ventriloquistic effect produced. The parent birds sometimes show very little solicitude for their offspring, even under the most trying circumstances ”

“ Individuals of both sexes vary very considerably both in intensity of colouring and actual quality of plumage. As an instance, the females of the present species are occasionally as rich in colouring as the finest males. Here, then, the impotency of sexual selection becomes apparent, for unless the females that choose the more beautiful males are themselves the more beautiful of the females, they will neutralise the effect of their own selection. ”

“ It is difficult, for instance, to understand why in Italy and Hungary—countries affording natural features eminently suitable to its habits—the bird is scarce. The great plains of Hungary and the banks of the Danube always appear to me to be particularly adapted to it, yet I cannot believe that in a country where the natural life is studied with so great an interest the bird is overlooked. ”

“ The effect as he walks along some horizontal branch is very striking, and is enhanced by the curious habit, common amongst so many species, of carrying something in his bill, a piece of dead grass perhaps, but more frequently a dead leaf, and when two or three of the latter, stuck together, are picked up and carried for some distance the effect is striking and at first somewhat startling, giving one the impression in the dim morning light of a stoat-like animal crawling along the branches. ”

“ The nest, composed principally of dried grass interwoven with dead leaves and bracken, is, even when the young are hatched, most difficult to find. Placed sometimes almost on the ground, sometimes a few feet above it, it may be found in very different situations, such as in the centre of a clump of Juncus effusus, underneath a thick mass of the same rush overhanging a small watercourse, in the middle of clumps of long dead grass, and low down in thick gorse bushes. During incubation, which lasts about sixteen days, the female seldom leaves the nest. ”

“ Adult Female in Spring.—The upper parts are of a uniform lightish olive umber slightly washed with a rusty colour. The marking on the back and shoulders is the same as in the male and well pronounced, the dark centres to the feathers forming on the crown about six narrow stripes, which, though plain, are not very conspicuous. The back of the neck is unspotted and the dark centres are very inconspicuous on the rump and upper tail-coverts, whereas the transverse bars on the tail-feathers are easily seen. ”

“ The ultimate production of the most healthy and most beautiful offspring by the selection of certain males is, without a corresponding selection amongst the females, impossible, and of the existence of such selection in any form there is no evidence. ”

“ Very skulking habits after eight o'clock in the morning until the evening and during incubation throughout practically the whole day.
In countries where the bird is seen in the spring and autumn migration, but is not supposed to breed, especially where the autumn migration is a comparatively early one, it is possible that an explanation may be found in the first of these habits, the bird being overlooked during the quiet period. But after due allowance is made for these habits, and the resultant unsatisfactory state of our knowledge, the geographical distribution remains an interesting one. ”

“ The colour of the under parts varies considerably in different specimens, probably due to sex. In the one case the general colour is whitish, the crop, which is furnished with small brown spots, is washed with light olive brown, the same colour extending down the flanks, and the under tail-coverts olive buff, marked boldly with brown longitudinal spots; in the other the colour is whitish, washed with light olive buff, giving a rich tone which extends down the flanks: the crop is unspotted. ”

“ Selection is impossible unless there are two or more males to be selected from.
I can find no evidence of this being a general rule in Nature, for although a second male occasionally approaches the zone of courtship and is consequently chased away by the first male, yet he is in no sense a rival, making no attempt to perform in the same extravagant manner ”

“ When disturbed on her nest she will slip off quietly on to the ground and be quickly concealed, but if not too much alarmed will return, threading her way through the grass in the same stealthy manner. If lucky enough to find a nest with young, watch closely the parent birds; time thus spent will by no means be wasted. One nest. I remember, placed low down in a gorse bush, and in a great measure hidden by long grass, gave me an exceptional opportunity of doing this. ”

“ It spends the greater part of its time either on the ground in the dense undergrowth, creeping in low thick bushes a few feet high, or searching tall thick hazels and hedgerows for food ten or twelve feet from the ground, but never appears to frequent trees; and has at all times, even when unconscious of any human presence, a great aversion to showing itself in the open. During incubation, when the song partly ceases, these skulking habits are more marked, since both sexes go to considerable trouble to conceal themselves. ”

“ The young leave the nest when only a few days old, and until able to fly are most difficult to find, concealed as they are in the dense undergrowth; but in the study of Nature it may with considerable truth be said that "all things come to him who waits." ”

“ To that class in which the different faculties seem to be specially active belongs the present species, and for me there is in all their movements, in each action of the short life they yearly spend amongst us, a fascination difficult to account for, unless it be in part due to a growing appreciation of my ignorance of all that they have to teach me. ”

“ It often happens, too, at this time of year, that the only other sounds in the night-time are the "churring" of the Nightjar, the craking of the Landrail, and the hissing of the young Brown Owls, sounds which are well in keeping and only tend to emphasise the stillness of the night. ”

“ This, however, we know, that as a bird grows older the colours of the plumage become intensified, and even the plumage itself becomes finer in quality, and amongst the Warblers this difference is so marked as to at once arrest attention. He, then, who supports the principle of selection must admit that the older males being more richly coloured would be first selected ”

“ It is probable, therefore, that there is much to be learnt concerning the northern breeding range.
LIFE-HISTORY.
Different species vary very considerably in character; some are lethargic and dull, others are the possessors of great nervous development, so that the study of some is more likely to lead to the solution of Nature's problems than the study of others. ”

“ The throat is whitish buff, crop region buffish olive yellow, centre of breast and abdomen whitish, blending into whitish buff on the long under tail-coverts, the latter being furnished with a dark centre, which, however, does not reach to the tip of the feathers. ”

“ Having ascertained the position of a nest from which the young have only lately gone, go there soon after sunrise and get well hidden. You will hear the hum of insects commencing and gaining in strength, as in response to the intensifying rays of the sun each one begins his daily toil; you will hear an insect with a very small far-away squeak, which for a time will puzzle you, but since
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“ The plumage of the young is also interesting, since an absence of spots in their case appears to be equivalent to a different tone of colouring. Whether all the members of a brood develop the same colouring, or whether the variations are sexual or sporadic, further investigation can alone show. ”

“ In Worcestershire, where I have principally studied this bird, they arrive during the night, and commence to sing, uninfluenced by the weather, at daybreak; and in the immediate neighbourhood of the spot they settle in they generally breed, although occasionally one appears to be a wanderer, singing in a hedge by the roadside, yet passing on before the next morning. ”

“ Before the arrival of the females, the males during the first few hours of daylight are very fond of playing with one another; and although their games are not to us very interesting, yet considerable energy is expended on them by the birds themselves. ”

“ Their dexterity in collecting the insects is marvellous; even when their bill appears to be full they still continue darting at an aphis here and a gnat there, adding them to the lump, yet never dropping any of that already gathered, so quick are their movements. ”

“ The majority of the males are similar to the one described first, but vary considerably in intensity of colouring, an absence of spots and a general richness of tone being apparently complementary to one another. ”

“ Climatic conditions seem to influence them to a certain extent. In very wet weather they mope, and when in this frame of mind it is possible to approach them very closely and watch the vigorous attempts they make to dry themselves. ”

“ It visits parts of Switzerland, breeding regularly in the low regions of the basin of the River Aar and the River Thur, in the districts near Geneva, and in the valleys of Hasli and Ursern. On migration it is found as high as the Alpine regions. ”

“ It is more numerous and generally distributed in the central provinces of Jaroslav, where it breeds on the islands of the Volga and near Rostov, Tver, Moscow, Smolensk, and Tula, also in the district lying between the Rivers Volga and Oka, but from the middle Volga valley there are no records. In the more southern parts it is found in the provinces of Kiev, Volhynia, Tchernigov, also along the banks of the Rivers Bug and Dnieper. ”

“ Westward we find it occurring in the Isle of Man, and then we come to a large breeding ground in Ireland, where it is generally distributed, but especially numerous in the counties of Antrim, Dublin, Wexford and Waterford. ”