78 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



on the list of the British Sylviidse — the Nightingale 

 and the Blackcap respectively claiming the first and 

 second places. It is an active and restless bird, but, 

 although seeming to shun observation, it has none 

 of the skulking habits of the Grasshopper and Dart- 

 ford \A^arblers. On the contrary, \vhen alarnied, it 

 usually takes refuge in the dense foliage of the 

 higher trees. It is known to consume a certain 

 quantity of the smaller kinds of fruit, but in view of 

 the number of insects which it destroys it cannot be 

 regarded as a foe to the gardener. In common with 

 the Blackcap, which in many wavs it resembles, the 

 power and volume of its song at its best is really 

 remarkable. 



In plumage the adult male Blackcap, although its 

 colours are delicately subdued, is still one of the 

 most beautiful of the British warblers. The upper 

 part of the head is jet-black, the edges sharply 

 defined and the cheeks ash-grey, this colour merg- 

 ing into ash-brow^n on the back and wings. The 

 under surfaces are of a fainter ash-grev, tinged as 

 in the Whitethroat with a pale rufous hue at the 

 flanks. In the female the black head is replaced by 

 a brownish hue. Curiously unlike any other of the 

 warbler family, the female Blackcap is distinctly 

 larger than the male. It has been stated that the 

 male Blackcap loses the distinguishing black crown 

 in the winter and assumes the browner cap of the 

 female. This, however, would not appear to be 

 usually the case. The nest of the Blackcap is rather 

 smaller and more compact than that of the Garden 

 Warbler, and the site chosen is generally at a toler- 



