26 THE BIRDS OF RAINHAM. 



which time they have been just as scarce as they 

 were plentiful. I now hear only here and there one 

 in our coppices and woods. 



WHITETHROAT. 

 Sylvia rufa (Bodd.). 



The Whitethroat is, perhaps, the most common of 

 all our summer warblers, comes as a rule the third 

 week in April, frequents the roadside hedges, con- 

 structs a thin flimsy nest made of the cleavers or 

 goosegrass a foot from the ground, utters a merry, 

 cheerful note, is provincially called jolly Whitethroat. 



LESSER WHITETHROAT. 

 Sylvia curruca (Linn.). 



Not very numerous as a species. A pair almost 

 always come and sing near my dwelling when the 

 apple trees are in bloom, sometimes breed in the 

 garden shrubs. 



WOOD-WARBLER. 

 Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein). 



The Wood-Warbler is seen on passage ; our woods, 

 being cut down every few years for the sake of the 

 hop poles, do not appear to be adapted to their 

 nature. 



