LESSER WHITETHROAT. 159 



quarters. This crooning warble usually ends in the clanging 

 rattle, which some have considered its call-note. The song 

 may be uttered on the wing ; I have seen a bird start across a 

 road, warbling softly, hover midway and rattle, then continue 

 its journey ; a few moments later it returned and repeated the 

 performance. Until well into July, even when the weather is 

 sultry, and with special vehemence if thunder threatens, the 

 song is continued, and after the moult it may be heard late in 

 August. At the end of September most birds leave, though it 

 has been noted in November. The note of alarm is a rapid 

 //V, tic^ frequently heard if the nest is near. The Lesser White- 

 throat- captures insects on the wing, but its usual methods are 

 careful hunts amongst the foliage ; it has also a hovering 

 nuptial flight in May. Insects are its main food, but soft fruit 

 is eaten, especially red currants ; a pair visited my garden 

 regularly in May, examining the raspberry canes and apple 

 blossom, but though they were still about in autumn I never 

 saw them at the fruit. 



The nest is frail and shallow, built of grass and rootlets and 

 usually lined with fibres, though hair is recorded. It is placed 

 in a tall hedge, a tangled bramble patch or a bushy tree, and is 

 usually higher above the ground than that of its relative. At 

 times it is not supported beneath, but hangs suspended like 

 that of the Reed- or Marsh-Warbler. The eggs, four to six, 

 are usually creamy white in ground with brownish spots or 

 blotches and underlying violet-grey markings (Plate 65) ; buff 

 grounds are not uncommon, also markings in a regular zone. 

 Eggs are sometimes laid very soon after the birds arrive in 

 I\Iay, but young may still be in the nest in early August, 

 possibly when first nests have been destroyed, for the species is 

 supposed to be single brooded. 



The male in spring is slate-gre}^, with a brownish tinge on 

 the back, and brown wings and tail. The cheeks are dark and 

 tinged with brown. The edges of the secondaries are grey, not 



