1903 Oni- Common Wild Birds 225 



flirt their tails up and down, so the redstart shivers his red 

 tail from side to side. There is no mistaking the male red- 

 start. The bird frequents woods and gardens. 



The Nightingale (Daulias luscinia), about which every- 

 body seems to know one thing only — that it sings by 

 night, — is not uncommon in most southern counties, and to 

 the writer its loud, rich, varied, and free song, which may 

 be heard at all hours of the day and night, is far superior 

 to that of any other British bird. Of unpretentious pure 

 brown plumage, there is little by which to identify it, except 

 that in a good light one can see that the bird's tail is more 

 red than brown. When the songs of the other warblers are 

 well known to the young naturalist, he will then have no 

 difficulty in identifying the nightingale, which one may 

 look and listen for in hazel coppices and thick, low-lying 

 hedgerows. 



The Blackcap {Sylvia atricapilld), another summer bird 

 of the woods, also of sparrow size, may be known by its 

 being the only grey bird having only the top of the head 

 black. (Please note that there are several small birds with 

 black heads. This one has only a black eap.) It sings 

 very beautifully, but we have no space in this article for 

 poetic description. The lady blackcap is like her spouse, 

 except that she wears a cap of chocolate colour. 



The Whitethroat (S. cinered) is one of the very com- 

 monest of summer visitors, is a shade smaller than a 

 sparrow, light brown in colour, darker on the face, and 

 with a white throat, which becomes conspicuous when the 

 bird sings, in a low hedge or amongst roadside brambles, 

 which are its favourite haunts. The whitethroat also has 

 a common habit of shooting out of the hedge and up into 

 the air for a yard or two, at the same time singing its 

 snatch of a song. 



The Sedge-Warbler (Acrocephalus phragmitis) haunts 

 similar situations to the whitethroat, and is quite as 

 common. It shows, however, more preference for the 

 neighbourhood of water. Here, again, we have a little bird 

 less than a sparrow, of reddish-brown plumage above, and 

 of buffish colour below, the best distinctive feature being a 

 conspicuous light line over the eye. The sedge-warbler 

 vol.. 11. — no. 7. I' 



