William Henry Mousley, 'The Singing Tree', or How Near to the Nest Do the Male Birds Sing… (1919)
“ Now it must not be imagined that during all those lours I had the male constantly under observation, an impossibility with a warbler, as often when singing he would suddenly cease, cock his head on one side, peer down into the undergrowth, and then suddenly make off, and I knew by this that he had probably observed the female and was after her ”
William Henry Mousley, 'The Singing Tree', or How Near to the Nest Do the Male Birds Sing… (1919)
“ However, one can never be sure, and the only way is to watch the male's every movement. This I proceeded to do for the next two hours, with very little result, as he merely kept flitting round about the magic circle whilst ever and anon singing from a few special trees. However, the critical moment came at last, as a downward swoop, so to speak, of his, into a spruce tree to the north brought out the female. I at once made for this tree, mentally congratulating myself that the nest was as good as found. ”
William Henry Mousley, 'The Singing Tree', or How Near to the Nest Do the Male Birds Sing… (1919)
“ So beautifully do they seem to blend with their surroundings that they seem to be part and parcel of them, and it is no easy matter sometimes to detect a nest, although comparatively in an exposed position as this one was, just five-thirty P.M. when I found it, and within the magic circle too, it being exactly sixteen yards from the 'singing tree' of the male, which I first noticed at one-thirty P.M., so that I had spent exactly four hours with this bird, during which time he sang almost continuously, with only short intervals of rest in between. ”
