AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 127 



egg can enable any one to identify it positively, but in 

 this instance I have attempted to convey the impression 

 produced on my mind by the eggs of this very beau- 

 tiful little bird, which is a great favourite of mine. 

 On their first arrival the male birds may often be 

 heard singing from high trees, and make occasional 

 excursions from their perches in pursuit of insects on 

 the wing. I do not notice that these birds come 

 into our gardens in the late summer so frequently as 

 many other species. I have met with the Lesser 

 Whitethroat in many parts of Southern Europe, but 

 nowhere abundantly ; in England it is, I think, more 

 frequent in the southern and south-eastern counties 

 than elsewhere. 



49. GARDEN-WARBLER. 



Sylvia hortcnsis. 



This bird is tolerably common with us in summer, 

 arriving late in April, and certainly is well named 

 (jff/Yfett-Warbler, as it evinces a remarkable partiality 

 for gardens and many of their products, such as 

 cherries, mulberries, currants, raspberries, and peas. 

 Yarrell mentions, on the authority of Sweet, that 

 "this bird is very fond of the caterpillars of the 

 common cabbage butterfly, and is the only Warbler 

 which will eat that destructive animal." I am some- 

 what inclined to doubt the latter part of the above 

 statement ; but I know the former to be perfectly 

 true, and believe that the Garden- Warbler in this 

 way does much more good than harm to the gardener. 

 The song of this species is some of the best bird- 

 music we have, and more continuous than that of 

 many of our other songsters. I cannot call this bird 



