54 



British Birds. 



is somewhat similar to that of the Common Whitethroat, but is rather more coarsely 

 made, consisting of grass-stems, bound together with spiders'-webs, and lined with 

 fine rootlets and horse-hair. The eggs are from four to six in number, white, with 

 spots of light brown or greenish-brown and violet-grey, while a frequent feature is 

 the distribution of black spots over the greater part of the egg. 



This species is larger than any of the preceding ones, with a 

 wing three inches in length. Its black head might render it 

 liable to be mistaken for the Black-cap, but the latter bird has 

 the throat ashy-grey, whereas in the Orphean Warbler it is 

 white. The general colour of the upper surface is slaty-grey, the tail black, tipped 

 with white, increasing in extent towards the outer feathers, which are white on the 

 entire outer web ; cheeks, throat, and under parts white, with the sides of the breast 

 and flanks ashy-grey, tinged with pink and becoming browner on the lower flanks ; the 



THE ORPHEAN 



WARBLER. 



{Sylvitt orpht'iis). 



I — The Garden-Warbler. 2 — The Orphean Warbler. 3 — The Blackcap. 



iris is pale yellow. The female is browner than the male, and the cap is lighter, and 

 more dusky black ; the young birds are also browner than the adults, and have the 

 fore-neck and chest rosy buft, inclining to vinous on the sides of the body. 



The Orphean Warbler is supposed to ha\e occurred twice in England, once in 

 Yorkshire and once near Hampstead, but considerable doubt attaches to both records. 

 It is a species of Southern Europe, and is common in Spain and the South of France. 

 Naturalists who have heard this bird smg state that its melody is nothing remark- 

 able, and Lord Lilford says that he is puzzled to know why the name of ' Orpheus " 

 should have been bestowed on the species. The nest is placed in the branch of a 

 tree at from five to twenty feet above the ground, and is somewhat deep, composed 

 of dry grass and stalks, with finer grass inside, the linmg consisting of down of the 

 thistle or cotton grass. The eggs are four or five in number, white, spotted witli 

 olive-brown or black, and with blotches of violet-grey. 



