132 GREATER PETTYCHAPS. 



approaching to white on the centre of the belly, 

 and being darker on the flanks and across the 

 breast. 



THE GREATER PETTYCHAPS, CURRUCA HOR- 

 TENSIS, Bechstein. Curruca hortensis, Selby, 

 Swain. Greater Pettychaps> or Garden Warbler 

 of modern authors. This interesting and unob- 

 trusive bird, in the districts where the Black- 

 Cap is found, is scarcely so common ; at the same 

 time it is generally distributed, and in Scotland 

 extends farther north. It is a bird of extremely 

 retired and shy habits, seldom appearing out of 

 the thicket and shrubbery. By close and silent 

 watching it may generally be seen, but it is 

 commonly discovered by its full song : at times 

 this is warbled from the thicket, but, we think, 

 more frequently from some elevation, and we 

 have often watched it thus occupied near the top 

 of a tall tree. The song is continued for a con- 

 siderable time, but ceases upon any noise or 

 interruption, the bird dropping stone-like from 

 its perch to the thicket, whence it makes its way 

 by hopping or flitting beyond the reach of its 

 alarm. The garden is a favourite resort for this 

 bird, particularly if it be much interspersed with 

 shrubbery, and it here finds an ample food both 

 ' '\ the hosts of insects and their larvae, and in the 

 smaller fruits when ripe. The nest is placed in 

 a low bush in these cultivated parts, but it is 

 much more commonly built in a tangled brake of 



