I know all this
because Thisbe's home is a small tuft of grass not distant from my
bedroom, and her admirers wooed her at long range from opposite corners
of my field.
Now, as a cursory study of ornithology will tell you, the corncrake's
method of attracting his bride is by song, and the criterion of
excellence in C.C. circles is that the song shall be protracted,
consistent and perfectly monotonous. To those who are unacquainted with
his note I would describe it as rather similar to the intermittent
buzzing noise which an inexperienced telephone operator lets loose when
she can't think of a wrong number to give you. It has also points of
resemblance to the periodic thud of the valve of a motor-tube when one
is running on a deflated tyre. But there is no real standard of
comparison. As a musical feat it is unique, and I for one am glad it is.
It was night. Eugene was in possession of the stage when I began to take
an interest in the romance. I cannot say for how long he had serenaded
his divinity before I became conscious of his lay, but I do know that
thereafter he put in one and a half hours of good solid craking before
he desisted.
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