Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/287

Rh most common of all the three Woodpeckers we get here. No Pheasants are reared in these woods, so Jays and Magpies are allowed to flourish. The Jay is the worst mimic there is, though at times he warbles to himself very quietly.

Coming to the outskirts of the wood, I saw a Cirl Bunting singing in a little orchard close by. These birds have increased very much the last few years, and breed annually in one or two spots. On the top of an elm a Wryneck was sitting, all huddled up except when he threw his head back and stretched out his neck to utter his curious note. Farther on in the meadows you could hear the Redpolls calling. At this time of year they are very fond of osier-beds to roost in, especially those where a few years ago the trees have been cut down.

The woods are full of Stock-Doves, Turtle-Doves, and Ring-Doves. In a hedge a Grasshopper Warbler was singing; they are fairly common in this part of the county, but do not often sing here after the middle of May till the end of June—that is, during incubation. This one was sitting on the top of a thick bush, like a round ball of feathers. I got close to him, but he saw me, and at once every feather was drawn tight to his body, and he became an ordinary bird as the world knows him; then, climbing down, he hid among the bushes. Waiting for about ten minutes, he presently appeared climbing up the middle of the bush again till he got to the top; there he sat sunning himself, his feathers swollen out, and his form perfect, as beautiful a creature as you could see.

To see them in all their beauty birds must be unconscious of your presence; there is a vast difference between a bird as he is usually seen with his feathers lying flat on his body, and a bird that is really at rest, unconscious of the presence of any human being; then it is the feathers rise and fall in beautiful order, and form the most perfect outline. At the end of five years, if you live amongst them, you will begin to see their beauty; at the end of another five you will have learnt how little you knew at the end of the first five. There are some who seem to think there is no more to be learned about British birds as regards their form and habits. This can never be—the subject is endless.