THE COMMON WHITETHROAT 39 



of the Mediterranean Islands, although upon what 

 evidence the statement is made is not apparent. 



The Common Whitethroat arrives in our islands 

 about the same time as the Garden Warbler — 

 during the last half of April, or early in May, 

 according to latitude. It is certainly the most 

 ubiquitous of the typical Warblers and may be met 

 with almost everywhere — in the suburban garden 

 or orchard, in hedges by the road-side, in the copses, 

 the fields, and the thickets, or even in moorland 

 districts provided a modest amount of tangled shelter 

 can be found. Although the Common Whitethroat 

 might fairly be described as a skulking bird, it is 

 by no means a shy one. It courts observation 

 rather than concealment during the first few weeks 

 of its sojourn with us, and may then repeatedly be 

 watched clinging to some tall bending twig at the 

 very top of the hedge, singing lustily; if disturbed 

 merely dropping down into the denser cover below, 

 or hurrying off in drooping hesitating flight for 

 some distance, or, as often as not, dropping over 

 the hedge out of sight, and reappearing a little 

 way ahead, to repeat the movement as we walk 

 along. As the breeding season draws on, however, 

 the Common Whitethroat certainly becomes more 

 skulking in its habits. It keeps more closely to the 

 matted, tangled vegetation, where the trembling of 

 a twig, or the harsh scolding note, is the only sign 

 of its presence and its whereabouts. It is often 



