82 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



the bird, but to the paucity of competent observers 

 in the districts referred to. 



Notwithstanding its delicate form and appar- 

 ently feeble flight, its ability to travel long dis- 

 tances without resting is proved by its having been 

 seen to alight on vessels in the Mediterranean, even 

 when upwards of sixty miles from land. 



In haunts, habits, and mode of nesting, the two 

 species of Whitethroats are very similar, so that 

 what has been said of one will apply almost equally 

 well to the other. Both arrive also about the 

 same time, namely, the third week in April ; and 

 by the end of August, when the young are strong 

 enough to shift for themselves, they depart again 

 southward. 



Thus year by year do these tiny warblers, with 

 others of their kind, make their way to our shores 

 to pass the summer with us, gladdening us with 

 their songs, and contributing, after their own 

 fashion, to our good. By what curious instinct 

 impelled, and by what means they contrive to find 

 their way, are problems which ornithologists have 

 yet to solve. 



