GARDEN-WARELER. l6l 



SO loud. In Suffolk I have heard a good-voiced Garden- 

 Warbler singing alongside a mediocre Nightingale, and the 

 former produced superior music. Singing from the upper 

 branches of a tree is not uncommon, but often the bird is 

 invisible in an evergreen. The idea that the Garden-Warbler 

 and Blackcap do not frequent the same wood seems to be true 

 of certain areas, but certainly is not universal ; I constantly see 

 and hear the two together. The length of the warble varies, 

 and when the snatches are short, it is difficult to say which of 

 the two allied species is responsible until we see the singer. 

 The alarm note, teck, Blyth likened to the sound of pebbles 

 struck together, and like the Whitethroat the bird has a 

 scolding chrrr. Insects are its food ; flies are often captured 

 on the wing, but the bird joins with other species in the search 

 for aphids, especially on the sycamores. To obtain soft fruits 

 and berries, to which it is also partial, it will leave the woods 

 and venture nearer human habitations. 



A low bush, evergreen shrub, rose or bramble patch, usually 

 near an open space or the outskirts of a wood, is a common 

 site for the frail, loosely constructed but roomy nest (Plate 66), 

 built of twisted grasses lined with finer bents and hair. I have 

 seen one lined entirely with black goat's hair ; a goat was 

 tethered close to the nest. It is seldom many feet above the 

 ground. Before the architects are satisfied two or three nests 

 may be started and abandoned ; both birds build and incubate. 



The eggs are laid late in May ; they often number five, and 

 are mottled and marbled with reddish brown or greenish grey 

 on a whitish ground (Plate 65). They vary less than the eggs 

 of the Blackcap, and closely resemble the less red types of this 

 species. The sitting bird slips quietly away when her nest is 

 examined, but soon reappears from another quarter, ticking 

 anxiously. 



The Garden-Warbler is one of our later migraBts, and it is 

 often well into May before the species is generally distributed ; 



Series I. M 



