142 BIRDS. 



The nest, made of leaves and lined Avitli liorse-hair and 

 rootlets, is placed close to the ground at the foot of a 

 clump in the thickest and most tangled part of a hedge. 

 J^ggs, 5, about | inch; resemble small olives, being un- 

 spotted greenish brown. 



2. The Warblers, 



[With the excejDtion of the foregoing, most of our song- 

 birds are included in this group, though they vary greatly 

 in the equality of their voice. Two residents; twelve 

 regular visitors; eight irregular visitors and stragglers.] 



The Whitethroat is widely distributed from Ai)ril to 

 September, save in parts of the Highlands. The note 



* "White- i^ sweet, but neither loud nor sustained. The 

 throat, bird feeds on insects and grubs, with an oc- 

 casional meal of fruit. The nest, built early in May, is of 

 dry grasses and bents, lined with hair, and is j^laced, not 

 far from the ground, in bushes. Egg?^, 5, about ^ inch ; 

 there are several types; and in the summer of 1886 I took 

 eleven distinct varieties from the furze-bushes of Dartford 

 Heath and the neighbouring park. They go through every 

 shade from palest yellow to deep green, some spotless, but 

 the majority profusely speckled with pale brown. 



Also with us in the southern counties from Ajn-il to 

 September, the Lesser Whitethroat is rarely found in 



* Lesser ^^^^l^s or Scotland, never reaches the High- 

 AAThite- lands, and is unknown in Ireland. It bears 

 throat, considerable resemblance to its larger relative 



in appearance, being distinguished by the absence of red 

 from the wings. In habits and food there is little diifer- 

 ence. The nest, similar but smaller, is found in the same 

 situations. The egg, also smaller, is of lighter hue with 

 similar markings. A second brood is usually reared. 

 Orjjhean Warbler. — A rare straggler from the South. 



