THE GARDEN WARBLER. 75 



catch insects after the manner of a Flycatcher, 

 often taking its stand upon a dahlia stake, or some 

 other " coign of Vantage," watching for its prey, 

 darting aloft with inconceivable rapidity, with its 

 bill upwards, catching the fly with a loud snap of 

 the bill, and immediately returning to its station, 

 again and again to renew the same process with 

 similar success. 



The nest, which is almost invariably made of 

 the goose-grass, Galium aparine, mixed with a little 

 moss, and lined with very fine .fibres and horse-hair, 

 is as slight a structure as that of the Blackcap, to 

 which it bears a considerable resemblance. It is 

 generally built in a low bush or thick brake, some- 

 times even on the ground amongst nettles and 

 weeds, and occasionally in a forked branch four or 

 five feet from the ground, being fastened to the 

 branch with cocoons, spiders' webs, or some such 

 substance. The eggs are four or five in number, 

 of a rusty white colour, spotted, or rather blotched, 

 with darker brown, chiefly towards the larger end, 

 and closely resemble those of the Blackcap, from 

 which they are not easily distinguished. 



The young birds quit the nest rather early, 



