. Birds through the year . BLACKBIRD THE LONELIER HOURS 163 also past; and as the deep glow fades into real darknessonly the babble of the sedge-warbler by the river recallsthe full nocturnal music of early June. The sedge-warbleris peculiarly associated with July nights; not because itdoes not sing as readily by night in earlier summer, butbecause other singers are silent, and leave it to chant is something strangely conversational in the sedge-warblers voluble monologues in the July night. They arehalf scurrility like the bickering of the house-sparrow, and. SEDGE-WARBLER half sh
. Birds through the year . BLACKBIRD THE LONELIER HOURS 163 also past; and as the deep glow fades into real darknessonly the babble of the sedge-warbler by the river recallsthe full nocturnal music of early June. The sedge-warbleris peculiarly associated with July nights; not because itdoes not sing as readily by night in earlier summer, butbecause other singers are silent, and leave it to chant is something strangely conversational in the sedge-warblers voluble monologues in the July night. They arehalf scurrility like the bickering of the house-sparrow, and. SEDGE-WARBLER half sheer beauty; and the bird seems singing for itself forcompany, in the loneliness of the night. The ear is struckwith notes that recall the day; it is the sedge-warblermimicking the cries of the birds that haunt the streamsideunder the sun. Now comes the sharp call of the chaffinch,now the sibilant signal of the water-wagtail, and presentlythe chatter of the sparrows that practise fly-catching underthe noonday willows. A veil of sleep half dulls the sedge-warblers vigilance; the song becomes a softer babble inthe reeds, like the song of a swallow on the weather-cock 164 SUMMER in the early dawn. A moorhen calls sharply in one of itsnocturnal alarms, and instantly the singer is awake again,pouring a loud recitation into the darkness. The song diesaway after midnight, when the confines of the new day arenear; but even as late as August a sudden disturbance bythe river at any time of night will sometimes draw a burst ofsong from a sedge-warbler hidden in the reeds. Sed
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirdspi, bookyear1922
