BRITAIN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 32S 



THE LESSER WHITETHROAT 



(Sylvia curruca). 



The Lesser Whitethroat is a decidedly smaller bird 

 than the last, and, among other points of difference, it 

 lacks the chestnut margins on the wing-feathers. It is 

 a summer visitor in smaller numbers to the south, east, 

 and centre of England and Wales. In the west and 

 north, as well as in the south of Scotland, it is rather 

 uncommon and local. To Ireland and the north of Scot- 

 land it is an exceptional wanderer. The nest is shallower 

 than the Whitethroafs, and is very frequently placed in 

 a hedge. The five or six creamy eggs have yellowish - 

 brown blotches and gray under-markings. 



THE GARDEN=WARBLER 



(Sylvia hortensis). 



Plate 123. 



From the end of April to late in September this little 

 Warbler is common over the greater part of England and 

 Wales, the southern half of Scotland, and many regions 

 of Ireland. The name has no very great appropriateness, 

 for the species is not more addicted to gardens than 

 many of its allies, and it is equally satisfied by many 

 other haunts. Low bushes are the usual nesting-places, 

 and the nest is rarely placed many feet from the ground. 

 Dry grass and moss are the chief materials of the nest, 

 and hair the principal constituent of the lining. The 

 four or five eggs are white in ground-colom-, blotched 

 and clouded with various shades of brown and green. 



