THE BLACKCAP. 43 



The Blackcap is rather an exclusive bird, seldom 

 breeding near another pair. It selects a solitary spot for 

 its nest, which it builds (about the end of May) either in 

 a bramble or honeysuckle, or even amongst nettles or 

 gooseberry bushes. The position of the nest varies from 

 two to eight feet from the ground. It is thin and deep, 

 and is composed of dried grass or fibrous roots, and occa- 

 sionally a little hair, the outside being cemented with 

 spiders' web and wool. The observer, in studying the 

 habits of this interesting little bird during the construc- 

 tion of its nest, must proceed with some little caution, as 

 any familiarity or disturbance is strongly objected to, and 

 the birds will immediately forsake their habitation and 

 seek a fresh locality upon the slightest suspicion or annoy- 

 ance. The eggs, as a rule, number four or five, and differ 

 considerably in size and shape. The general colour is a 

 dull greenish- white, mottled with light brown or grey, and 

 a few spots of darker brown ; the eggs are also occasionally 

 to be met with of a pretty pink or salmon colour. 



Both the male and female Blackcap are very assiduous 

 in their attention to the nest during the breeding season, 

 and are so devoted to their charge that during this period 

 they seem to lose a great deal of their natural shyness, 



I and will even suffer themselves to be captured by hand. 

 The birds both share in the duties of hatching, the male 

 not unfrequently singing as he sits, and at other times 

 feeding his mate. 

 A very noticeable trait in the character of the Blackcap 

 is his strong partiality for the same locality ; the birds 

 seldom change their haunts, but return for several succes- 

 sive seasons to the same spot. 



In the order of their migratory arrival, the male birds 



