black cap—reddish brown—in the female. It has also a 
peculiarly delightful song, which some prefer to that of the night- 
ingale. This, the most celebrated of all our warblers—though 
for some inscrutable reason some ornithologists appear to regard 
it as a near ally of the redstarts and robin !—frequents woods 
with thick undergrowth and tangled hedgerows, and hence, is 
seldom seen, but may be recognised by the uniform russet-brown 
coloration of its upper parts, shading into pale chestnut on the 
tail, and the ash-grey of the under parts, shading into white on the 
throat and abdomen. The whitethroat may be recognized by 
the fine white ring round the eye, grey head, brown upper parts, 
and buffish pink breast, set off by the conspicuous white throat, 
from which the bird derives its name. It is perhaps the only 
British warbler which can really be distinguished during flight, 
and this only because the outermost pair of tail feathers are almost 
wholly white. It may be looked for in hedges and thickets, as 
well as on gorse-covered commons. Its near relation, the lesser- 
whitethroat, differs in its smaller size, whiter under parts, and the 
absence of the rufous edges to the secondaries, which are one of the 
distinguishing features of the common whitethroat. The garden- 
warbler is much more frequently heard than seen, its song, a 
continuous, sweet, and mellow warble, rivalling that of the 
blackcap, though softer and less varied. Haunting shrubberies 
and gardens, it is yet the mere ghost of a bird, its uniform brown 
80 
