British Sons Birds, 121 



"to 



These three species of willow wren are often mistaken for 

 each other by ornithologists. They all arrive in the course of 

 the spring, and leave in the latter end of summer. All build 

 their nests on the ground, live on the same kind of food, and, 

 what is remarkable, all utter the same note of fear when 

 alarmed for the safety of their nest or young. The last, I 

 believe, was added to the list of British birds by that celebrated 

 and accurate naturalist the Rev. G. White, author of the His- 

 tory of Sdborne. 



The next is a songster of great eminence, namely, the Pet- 

 tychaps, or Garden Warbler (Sylvia hortensis). This species 

 inhabits thick hedges and shrubberies ; and being fond of small 

 fruit, particularly raspberries, is often a pilferer in the garden : 

 hence the specific name. It is, however, a shy bird, oftener 

 heard than seen. The song is a continued warble of consi- 

 derable modulation, sometimes for half an hour at a time, 

 without a pause. There is no theme or connection in the 

 song : wild, rapid, and irregular in time and tone ; but the 

 rich depth is wonderful for so small a throat, approaching in 

 deep mellowness even to that of the blackbird. His music is 

 seldom elevated, all seeming to be the ardent accents of per- 

 suasion, delivered in the gravest tones. 



In the same hedge we see and hear the jocund Whitethroat 

 (Sylvia cinerea). Seated on a topmost spray, he distends his 

 garrulous throat, and, with cockaded brow, incessantly pours 

 forth his short but joyous song ; and, lest he should not be 

 sufficiently seen and heard, mounts into the air to the height 

 of twenty feet or more, singing his peculiar jerking notes as 

 he descends to his perch. All this exertion of voice and wing 

 seems to be entirely for the gratification of his listening mate, 

 who is attending to her domestic affairs at no great distance 

 from the spot. 



In the near neighbourhood may be also heard the Lesser 

 Whitethroat (Sylvia Sylviella). This is a smaller bird than the 

 preceding. Their haunts, arrival in, and departure from, this 

 country correspond ; but this has less power of song ; it is 

 only a kind of convulsive laugh or call, occupying about half 

 a bar of common time. In the general chorus of the woods, 

 the lesser whitethroat bears a very subordinate part : it is the 

 pipe without the tabor. 



The next is the contra-alto singer of the woodland choir, 

 viz. the Blackcap (Sylvia Atricapilla). The fine, varied, 

 joyous song of this emigrant is noticed by the most listless 

 auditor. The strain occupies about three bars of triple time 

 in the performance, and, though very frequently repeated, is 

 somewhat varied in every repetition. . Unlike some of the 



