136 LESSER WHITE-THROAT. 



or umber brown, but in this it is of a beautiful 

 straw yellow, when nearly inspected appearing of 

 the consistency of bronze. 



THE LESSER WHITE-THROAT CURRUCA 

 GARRULA, Briss.- Motacilla curruca, Linn. 

 Curruca garrula, Briss. Selby. Lesser White- 

 throat of British authors. -^ This bird is not 

 nearly so widely distributed in Britain as the 

 last, which it resembles considerably in its 

 habits, being even more noisy and restless ; it is 

 also shy, and remains silent when intruded on. 

 In the north we have not had opportunities of 

 examining its habits, and in the descriptions of 

 our modern ornithologists there is not much 

 detail given, farther than that they are similar 

 in most respects to the last. They are also said 

 to breed in nearly the same situations. The 

 nest, though slim and careless, is of a construc- 

 tion rather warmer, wool and cottony substances 

 being occasionally mixed in the lining. Its 

 distribution in Britain is nearly similar to that 

 of what may be termed the more southern war- 

 blers : it is not plentiful in Wales, nor, we 

 presume, in the more alpine districts of England ; 

 but is known to extend northward as far as Dur- 

 ham. Upon the border, in Scotland, or in 

 Ireland, there has, however, been no instance of 

 its capture recorded. On the Continent, its 

 range is more extended, it visits the northern 

 countries as well as Spain and Italy, and from 

 the last even migrates with regularity, most 



