Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 1 of 9.djvu/53

 but perhaps those most frequented are osier-beds, which a year or so previously have been cut down; small coppices with plenty of thick undergrowth; spaces in large woods where timber has lately been felled, and where consequently scrubby bushes and luxuriant vegetation abound; waste land covered with gorse; swampy, but not too wet, ground with an abundance of Juncus effusus; clover fields and thick hedgerows either by the roadside or next to fields of corn; thick undergrowth of some description seems, however, to be a necessity.

On their arrival the males can easily be detected by their song—for applying the word "song" to the vocal efforts of my friends I must apologise. I know not what other word describes it—which when once heard can never be forgotten, and from which they have earned the name "Grasshopper"; yet when with bill wide open and body quivering they utter their monotonous "reel" there is little resemblance to the insect. A more minute knowledge of their ways is required to enable one to appreciate whence the name originated. They are by no means difficult birds to approach, and with ordinary precaution it is possible to get concealed quite close to them, and to hear the low whisperings from which they take their name. Let us suppose for a moment we are concealed within a few yards of one of them. There, on a branch low down in some nut-bush, he sits wrapped in meditation; now he commences to sing, and the power thus expended is apparent from the vibration, which is becoming almost painful to the ears, when he stops, and in turn in the far distance we hear others answering, first on one side, then on another. But watch him closely; with throat still distended and bill slightly open, he turns his head from side to side, and the sounds from our imaginary birds in the distance coincide with the turning of his head; thus the truth dawns upon us. He is certainly a wonderful ventriloquist, and though perhaps not conscious of his powers, yet he is most deceptive, and I have often been puzzled when trying to locate his position,