igii.] Birds of AlcucUa, Majorca. 687 



53. Sylvia atricapilla. Blackcap. 



A summer visitor and common, tlie greater number 

 arriving- in April, but in 1921 there was a consitlerable 

 immigration at the beginning of March. A few remain 

 throughout the winter. They haunt the gardens and orchards 

 and nest in the bramble and myrtle-brakes among the gorges 

 of the pine-woods in the hills. 



Obtained by v. Jordan s. 



54. Sylvia melanocephala. Sardinian Warbler. 



One of the commonest birds ; found everywhere all the 

 year round, and where no other bird is to be seen, the Black- 

 headed Warbler is sure to be there — even among the sparse 

 palmetto-scrub on the tops of the bare hills, or the few 

 scattered clumps of pines growing in inaccessible spots 

 among the crags, as well as in orchards, gardens, and pine- 

 woods. They nest abundantly in every conceivajblo situa- 

 tion, but always low down, their favourite s])ots being dense 

 clumps of butcher's broom, myrtle-thickets, palmetto-scrub, 

 bramldes, and roadside bushes. Often the same site is 

 resorted to annually, but damp or marshy situations are not 

 favoured. Their nests vary considerably, some being neat, 

 compact structures, and others bulky and rather untidj- ; all 

 are made of grass externally, with invariably a pad of cotton- 

 grass blossoms or vegetable down of some kind, in which 

 the lining of fine grass or fibre is set. The eggs also vary 

 much, the commonest type having a pale greenish ground, 

 with greyish specks of various shades. A very handsome 

 type has a whitish ground, with spots or blotches of dark 

 red, or purple or brown — in fact, without identifying the 

 birds, these handsome eggs might belong to another species. 

 There is never any difficulty in l)eing able to identify the 

 birds, however, as they are always in evidence near their 

 nest and sit closely, the male taking his turn with the 

 female ; when the young are hatched the parent birds make 

 a curious "purring" noise, something like the subdued 

 chatter of a Wren or the " churring " of a distant Nightjar. 

 The usual number of eggs laid is three or four, and more 



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