THE GARDEN WARBLER 



77 



with netting. It also feeds on wild fruits, such as ivy and elder- 

 berries. In its natural state it is a mocking bird, imitating the 

 song of other birds, and in a cage soon learns the notes of the nightin- 

 gale and canary. 



FIG. 49. THE BLACKCAP WARBLER AND RASPBERRY GRUB. 



The GARDEN WARBLER (Sylvia hortensis or salicaria), included 

 in the family Sylviadae or Warblers, is 6 in. in length, and its 

 colour brown above, abdomen white, and throat patch of white, 

 brown tinted, and underwing coverts buff. It is active in habits, 

 dwells in gardens and pleasure grounds, woodlands and hedges, 

 arriving in Great Britain in April or May and departing from its 

 shores in September. It builds a nest of a little moss, dried grass 

 and wool, lined with fine fibrous roots and some long hairs, in a 

 thick bush or hedge near the ground, and in it are laid four or five 

 eggs, of a whitish-grey colour, spotted with brown, the spots being 

 collected towards the larger end. The food consists of insects, 

 particularly the small leaf-rolling caterpillars that infest apple and 

 other fruit trees, feeding the young entirely upon insects. Its food, 

 however, is varied with small fruit both wild and cultivated, but 

 its depredations are not generally of a serious nature. This bird 

 is the Beccafico of the Italians, so celebrated as a dainty for the 

 table. 



The FIELDFARE (Turdus pilaris), included in the Turdidae or 



