1670 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



exposed situations; indeed, he can hardly do otherwise, since in backward seasons his 

 progeny are hatched before the leaves of many trees have unrolled. The female 

 constructs her nest of dry stems of grass and fibres, lining it with fine roots and 

 hair; the eggs being generally yellowish brown, clouded with a darker color. The 

 song of the blackcap is rich and well sustained, and from the rich quality of its 

 notes the bird has been termed the Norfolk nightingale. The blackcap is a most 

 anxious parent, exhibiting lively distress if the safety of the young be menaced. 

 The young feather very rapidly and leave the nest proportionately earlier than do 

 many other birds. In July the song of the blackcap becomes soft and subdued, and 

 the bird then sings in close cover, shunning notoriety. The blackcap is a favorite 

 cage bird; we have seen hundreds caged in Paris, and many more in Berne and other 

 continental cities. In the Canaries there occurs a curious variety in which the 

 black of the cap extends over the nape and shoulders as well as round the throat. 

 The typical adult male has the forehead and crown pure black; the upper parts 

 bluish gray, suffused with olive brown; the wings and tail brown; while beneath it 

 is bluish gray. The female has the cap of a rusty red, and in captivity sings 

 sweetly, although less powerfully than her mate. 



The barred warbler (S. nisoria) arrives in its summer quarters in 

 Europe somewhat later than the majority of migrants, and takes up its 

 abode chiefly in gardens; constructing a bulky nest, more compact 

 than that of most warblers, of roots and dry stems neatly lined with horsehair or 

 fibres. The nest is generally built in a thorn bush not far from the ground, and the 

 eggs are buffish white spotted with brown and ash color. The barred warbler is shy 

 and skulking in its habits, and even in confinement it retains this shyness, although 

 this does not extend to birds reared from the nest. The adult male has the upper 

 parts brownish gray; the under parts being grayish white, finely barred with brown. 

 The Dartford warbler (S. undata) * is a resident but local bird in 

 w . the temperate parts of Europe, breeding also in the mountains of Al- 

 geria. It is a small, retiring species, fond of thick covert, and used to 

 be tolerably common even in the neighborhood of London until exterminated by 

 several severe winters. Mr. Swaysland wrote in 1883: "I have taken several 

 hundreds of eggs of the Dartford warbler within a few miles of Brighton, but the 

 birds were all exterminated in a recent severe winter. I have not heard of any 

 since, though formerly we could find a dozen pairs within a few miles. I have 

 taken the eggs of a single pair three or four times in a season. If the nest contained 

 three eggs when I first robbed it, the next clutch usually contained five eggs, but if 

 it contained four eggs the first time the second laying usually consisted of the same 

 number." The Dartford warbler builds a very slight nest, composed of dry stalks 

 and lined with finer stems added to a little wool. The nest is usually extremely 

 difficult to find, and can only be discovered by patient observation of the old birds. 

 Mr. Newman often observed the Dartford warbler in the neighborhood of Godalm- 

 ing, and has left the following sketch of its winter habits: " When the leaves are off 

 the trees, and the chill winter winds have driven the summer birds to the olive 



*Frequeatly separated generically as Melizophilus. 



