6th May 1825

Could not sleep all night got up at 3 o’dock in the morning & walked about the fields. The birds were high in their songs in Royce Wood & almost deafening. I heard the Cricket-bird* again in full cry in Royce Wood -- it is just like a childs 'screeker'. Saw a Hawk-like bird that made an odd noise like one of the notes of the Nightingale, as if to decoy his prey into sight.

* The high, insect-like reeling song of the grasshopper warbler is the best clue to its presence. Even when you hear one it can be difficult to locate it due to the ventriloquial effect of its singing. If seen on migration it moves like a little mouse, creeping through the foliage. (RSPB)

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