The Blackcap 

 THE BLACKCAP 



Sylvia atricapilla (Linnaeus) 



Those whose good fortune does not allow them to live 

 within earshot of the Nightingale, point to the Blackcap as 

 having a song little, if at all, inferior to that of the prince 

 of songsters. 



Comparisons are at all times odious and in this case 

 misleading, for to our mind no comparison can possibly be 

 made between the two ; the song is not only different, but 

 lacks also the passion and tone so characteristic of the 

 Nightingale. 



Although a few Blackcaps sometimes winter in Devon, 

 they are really migrants, and we gladly welcome this little 

 bird when he makes his appearance in the spring. He will 

 not often be seen, for, like all his tribe, he delights in woods 

 and coppices, keeping low down in their leafy shade, and 

 hopping along quietly from branch to branch as we approach. 



His nest is very slight, made of dry grass lightly 

 woven together and lined with a little horsehair. The eggs 

 are very variable, being usually of a dirty creamish colour, 

 blotched and spotted with darker brown, or sometimes of a 

 reddish tint with dark red spots. Their food consists 

 almost entirely of insects, and it is on this diet that the 

 young are reared, but as the berries and fruit ripen in the 

 hedges or our gardens a large toll is taken, especially of 

 currants and raspberries, of which they are extremely fond. 

 Like the nightingale their song ceases with the hatching of 



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