l62 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



the song is continued until the early part of July, and is only 

 occasionally heard after the moult in August. Towards the 

 end of September the emigrants slip quietly away. 



In both sexes the summer dress is olive-brown above and 

 white, shading into buff, beneath. The throat, breast and 

 flanks are distinctly buff. Above the eye is a pale streak, 

 and the sides of the face are ashy grey. The bill is dark 

 brown, paler at the base of both mandibles ; the legs are 

 leaden, and the irides hazel. After the moult the upper parts 

 are darker, the under more buff, and the young, difficult to 

 distinguish, are still further suffused with buff on the throat 

 and breast. Length, 5-5 ins. Wing, 3*15 ins. Tarsus, '8 in. 



Blackcap. Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.). 



The Blackcap (Plate 67) has a similar summer range fo that 

 of the Garden-Warbler, but it winters further north in Africa, 

 and not only do many remain in southern Europe, but some 

 occasionally in England. Throughout our islands it is a 

 regular summer resident, and in most parts is common ; it is 

 also a bird of passage, noticeable on the east coast in autumn. 



Though frequenting thick woods the Blackcap is rather more 

 a bird of the open than the Garden-Warbler, from which it can 

 be told at once by the black or brown cap ; indeed this character 

 puts it apart from all common warblers. In some parts the 

 Reed-Banting is known as the " Blackcap." In the south the 

 immigrants often arrive in March, but are seldom widely 

 distributed before the middle of April. Owing to its fine song 

 it is known as the " Northern Nightingale," for its notes are 

 rich, clear and mellow, but the song is shorter than that of the 

 Garden-Warbler and has no resemblance to that of the Night- 

 ingale. Occasionally there is a low prelude with harsh notes 

 suggesting ^he Sedge-Warbler, but full notes of Blackbird 

 quality follow. The alarm, tack tack, is loud, and it scolds like 



