THE BLACKCAP AND WHITETHROATS. 99 



THE BLACKCAP AND WHLTETHRGATS. 



Of all the little songsters that regularly visit us every 

 season, the little Blackcap is first to arrive. He is seen 

 amongst the evergreens, or hopping about the naked 

 hawthorn hedges early in April, and, like the Warblers 

 in general, he arrives some little time before his mate, 

 and seldom or never sings before her arrival. You can 

 tell him by his rich and varied song, or, better still, by 

 his jet black crown : his mate, however, does not wear a 

 ' black cap,' but on the crown of her head is a patch of 

 reddish-brown. 



The Blackcap is seen in shrubberies, woods, gardens, 

 tangled hedgerows, and lanes in which brambles are 

 prominent. But, wherever found, he is a shy and wary 

 little creature, and upon the least alarm seeks the shelter 

 of the densest vegetation. How rich and melodious is 

 the song of the Blackcap Sylva ! His song is given 

 forth on the topmost branches of the tallest trees, on 

 the more lowly shrubs, and from the midst of the dank 

 and dense vegetation where he builds his nest. His 

 notes are varied, ay, almost as much so as the vernal 

 notes of the Song-thrush. Of the peculiar richness of 

 its tone no pen can adequately speak, while its loud tones, 

 to one not familiar with this graceful little chorister, ap- 

 pear as though a much larger bird were uttering them. 

 In the vernal year I have heard him sing as loud as the 

 Thrush. If you wish to see this little warbler in the act 



