118 FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC. 



At 1.25 the hen returned and stayed on the nest a few 

 minutes, looking out of the large aperture with her tail out 

 of the small one. In a few minutes she slipped off, so I 

 went to lunch. 



At 2.30 I returned, and at 2.33 the hen arrived, going into 

 the nest at the top ; at 2.35 the cock brought food and gave 

 it to the hen, who remained on the nest. 



At 3 some passers-by came near, and the hen slipped off 

 and dived through the furze. 



At 3.15, the hen returned chirruping and dived into the 

 nest through the top ; I could not see that she had any food 

 at all. At 3.23 the cock came to the nest and gave some food 

 to the hen. 



The cock called as he came " twee tweet twee twee twee,'* 

 the "tweet" being a little higher that the "twees," which 

 are all on one note. 



The hen answered with " twe chuch twee chuch twee chook," 

 something like a whitethroat scolding, only very mildly 

 indeed. I do not mean that the hen was a scold ; they 

 seemed a very devoted couple and seldom left each other for 

 many minutes. 



The cock departed and at 3.24 the hen followed. 



At 3.25 the cock returned, and not finding the hen at home 

 waited a moment and then went inside the nest to make sure 

 she was not there. He came out again with the food still in 

 his beak. The food looked like two or three brownish whitish 

 larvae. 



At 3.30 the cock met the hen coming through the furze and 

 handed over his beak-full of food, and the hen took the food 

 into the nest through the top. The hen remained on the nest 

 for some time and the male went away, but not very far, I 

 think. The hen left the nest for a few minutes and was back 

 again at 3.55, and dived into the nest through the top and 

 looked out of the front ; as the light was now very bad I left. 

 (W.P.C. and E.H.C.) 

 Sylvia sylviq (The White-throat). 



April 13. Two seen at North Bestwall, Ware ham. 



