58 THE WHITETHROAT. 



" Whaty " on account of their belief that it sucks the eggs of 

 other small birds. One of its popular names in the county 

 — "Jenny-cut-throat" — would seem to indicate that it is 

 thought to be guilty of even worse deeds than sucking eggs. 

 It is unfortunate for the poor Whitethroat that it should be 

 subjected to persecution from an erroneous idea that it sucks 

 other birds' eggs or kills their young, for it is quite innocent 

 of all such misdeeds, and lives entirely upon insects and 

 small fruits. To obtain the latter it often visits our gardens 

 in July, August, and September, when it may be seen 

 amongst the currant and raspberry bushes. Mr. Hardy has 

 noted that it is very fond of eating the berries of the 

 Daphne Mezereum in August when they are ripe.^ 



It is a sprightly bird, and the traveller along our roads 

 and bye-ways sees it now disappearing through the hedge, 

 and again perched on some high twig at a little distance 

 along the pathway, babbling out its song. I have pleasing 

 remembrances of trout-fishing mornings on the Whitadder, 

 in early summer, when, in many of the plantations on the 

 banks of the stream, which abound with wild-flowers, — 



The sporting Whitethroat, on some twig's end borne, 

 Pour'd hymns to freedom and the rising morn. 



Bloomfield, Spring. 



Although not a shy bird, it sometimes likes to hide itself 

 amongst the thickest herbage, where its frequently repeated 

 notes of "Hweet-hweet-hweet," and " Cha-cha-cha," indicate 

 its presence. 



It generally leaves us for the south in August and 

 September. The nest is found in various positions, such as 

 amongst tangled herbage by the side of a road or stream, in 

 brambles or whins, in nettles or other rank weeds, and the 

 like. It is loosely built of dry grass, and lined with finer 



1 Mr. Hardy's MS. Notes. 



