74 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



some Whitethroats sounds something like " see to the 

 hay in the meadow ; " and snatches of this ditty may 

 be heard as the bird darts over your head, or watches 

 your approach from some bush a few yards in advance 

 of your path. If you approach it very closely, the song 

 suddenly ceases, and instead you hear a warning cry 

 very like the word " chaw " uttered in a solemn voice ; 

 hence the name, " Peggy Chaw," sometimes given to 

 the bird. 



Walking down a country lane, silence may reign until 

 it is broken by this warning note, which, uttered quite 

 close to you, has sometimes almost a startling effect ; if 

 you remain quiet, and keep watch for a moment, you 

 will see the little Whitethroat stealing round to have a 

 good look at you, or seated motionless on a twig, with 

 his eye fastened suspiciously upon you, and uttering 

 every now and then this menacing monosyllable. I 

 have on more than one occasion, however, heard the 

 Whitethroat warble so delightfully as to make me 

 believe for the moment that I was listening to some 

 greatly superior songster ; on these occasions the bird 

 usually interpolates the notes of other birds with his 

 own, and proves himself to be, like the Sedge Warbler, 

 a really good mocking-bird. Mr. Hudson places it 

 sixth in merit of the Warblers. 



The term " Nettle-creeper " has been applied to the 

 Whitethroat, from the fact that it frequents hedges 

 where nettles abound, and that its nest may often be 

 found amongst their stems. In Ireland, however, the 

 bird is usually called the Polly Whitethroat, or, as I 

 heard it once styled by a bird dealer, "the Great 

 Impayrial Polly Whitethroat." The food of the White- 



