7 8 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



Total length. Wing. 



Greater Whitethroat , . 5*5 in. 2-9 in. 

 Lesser Whitethroat . 5 '2 in. 2-5 in. 07 in. 



Independently, however, of its slightly smaller size, 

 the Lesser Whitethroat may be distinguished by its 

 black ear-coverts, and by the absence of the pale 

 rufous edgings to the secondaries, which are so con- 

 spicuous in the commoner species. The legs also 

 are slate-coloured instead of yellowish brown. 



The subject of the present notice comes to us 

 about the third week in April, when no one can 

 walk along a country lane without being reminded 

 at every fifty yards of the presence of this demon- 

 strative little bird. With crest-feathers erect and 

 half-extended wings it bustles in and out, gesti- 

 culating loudly, and seems to live in a perpetual 

 state of excitement. It sings a good deal on the 

 wing, sometimes returning to the branch it has just 

 left, after the manner of a Tree Pipit, sometimes re- 

 alighting elsewhere. The song, which is commenced 

 on arrival, generally ceases early in the month of 

 July. _ ;" , 



Its habits, and the " grotesquely earnest appear- 

 ance," as Thompson calls it, which the erected 



