THE GARDEN WAEBLEE. 129 



resembles in size and habits. Its song is -little if at all 

 inferior to that of the bird just named, and it is far from 

 improbable that some of the sweet strains for which the 

 Blackcap gets credit, particularly late in the summer, may 

 be produced by the Garden Warbler; I have heard its 

 song so late as the fifth of October. By some authors 

 it is called the Greater Pettychaps, by others the Fauvette, 

 which latter name is by some French ornithologists ap- 

 plied to the group containing this bird and several allied 

 species. Its nest and eggs are so like those of the Black- 

 cap as to be discriminated with difficulty. 



THE WHITETHROAT. 



CURRUCA CINEREA. 



Head ash-grey ; rest of the upper parts grey, tinged with rust colour ; wings 

 dusky, the coverts edged with red ; lower parts white, faintly tinged on the breast 

 with rose colour ; tail dark brown, the outer feather white at the tip and on 

 the outer web, the next only tipped with white. Female without the rose tint 

 on the breast, but with the upper plumage more decidedly tinged with red ; 

 feet brown. Length five inches and a half; breadth eight and a half. Eggs 

 greenish white, thickly spotted with reddish and greenish brown. 



THE Whitethroat is in England the most common of all 

 the migratory warblers, and is generally diffused. It is 

 essentially a hedge-bird, neither taking long flights nor 

 resorting to lofty trees. Early in May it may be detected 

 in a hawthorn or other thick bush, hopping from twig to 

 twig with untiring restlessness, frequently descending to 

 the ground, but never making any stay, and all the while 

 incessantly babbling with a somewhat harsh but not un- 

 pleasant song, composed of numerous rapid and short, 

 notes, which have but little either of variety or compass. 

 Occasionally it takes a short flight along the hedge, gene- 

 rally on the side farthest from the spectator, and proceeds 

 to another bush a few yards on, where it either repeats the 

 same movements, or perches on a high twig for a few 

 seconds. From time to time it rises into the air, performing 



K 



