SYLVIIN^. 



47 







THE BLACKCAP. 



Sylvia atricapilla (Linnaeus). 



The principal arrival of this songster, hardly inferior to the 

 Nightingale, takes place about the middle of April ; but occasion- 

 ally some Blackcaps remain with us through the winter, and are 

 consequently noticed on warm days in early spring. The majority 

 take their departure for the south in September. Although some- 

 what local, the Blackcap appears to be of tolerably general distribu- 

 tion throughout England and Wales. In Scotland it becomes scarce 

 as a breeder beyond the Firths of Clyde and Forth, but its nest has 

 been found as far north as Ross-shire ; while a pair attempted to 

 establish themselves in a garden in the Shetlands, to which, as w^ell 

 as to the Orkneys, Caithness, and Sutherland, the bird is a visitor 

 during the autumn migration. In the mild, moist climate of the 

 south-west it remains until late in the year, and Mr. R. Service 

 captured one near Dumfries on November 29th 1881. In Ireland 

 it occurs sparingly in summer, the nest having been found in the 

 counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Tipperary, and Mayo ; while in winter 

 its presence has been recorded several times, especially in the south. 



From Scandinavia below 66° N. lat., the Blackcap is found breed- 

 ing in every country of Europe, as well as in North Africa and 

 Palestine ; in fact, allowing for individual migration, the Blackcap 

 appears to be a resident species in the basin of the Mediterranean. 



