FOR CAGES AND A VI ARIES. 15 



THE RING BLACKBIRD. See Ring Ouzel {under 

 Thrushes). 



THE BLACK-CAP. See Tit (Great). 



THE BLACKCAP WARBLER. 



In the estimation of many people the Blackcap Warbler 

 is, scarcely, if at all, inferior to the Nightingale as a 

 songster. Like the latter, it is a bird of passage, arriving 

 in April and taking its departure in September. During its 

 sojourn with us it lives on a mixed diet of berries and insects, 

 but the young are fed entirely with the latter, chiefly small 

 caterpillars, which do a great deal of harm to vegetation. 

 It is rather smaller than the Nightingale, and is of a 

 general grey colour, darker above than on the under surface 

 of the body. The top of the head is black in the male 

 and chestnut-brown in the female and the young of both 

 sexes. 



It frequents woods and gardens, often breeding in the 

 latter. The nest, which is compactly built of grass and lined 

 with hair, is usually placed in a low bush, with very little 

 attempt at concealment : the eggs, four or five in number, are 

 creamy-white in colour, spotted and streaked with yellow 

 and brown. There are generally two, but sometimes three 

 nests in the season, the young of the first being, as a rule, 

 males, and those of the later nests females. 



In the house, this bird must be provided with a large 

 cage, for its plumage is very soft and frays readily, which 

 of course spoils its appearance. It is fond of bathing, and 

 should have full opportunity afforded it for doing so every 

 day. It is not nearly so delicate as the Nightingale with 

 regard to cold, for it has been known to pass the winter 

 in an outdoor aviary in this country without suffering 

 any apparent inconvenience from the exposure. 



It is extremely fond of bread and milk as well as of 

 fruit of all kinds, but more especially of a ripe pear. 



