158 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



I have mentioned as being those most common 

 in the list above referred to. I would strongly 

 advise the reader to peruse the work in question ; 

 if he is not already acquainted with the appearance 

 and habits of those birds to which it has reference, 

 he will find it full of interest and information. 



He divides these eight birds into three groups, 

 i.e., under the genera to which they severally 

 belong, viz., the Sylviinae, or birds of the wood- 

 lands ; the Phylloscopinae, or leaf-searching birds ; 

 and the Acrocephalinae, or birds belonging to a 

 group many of the members of which have the 

 front of the head narrow and depressed. 



To the Sylviinae belong, amongst others, the 

 following, viz. : 



The whitethroat. 



The lesser whitethroat. 



The blackcap. 



The garden warbler. 



The nests of these birds are rarely, if ever, 

 built upon the ground, but some two or three 

 feet above it. Those of the whitethroats are 

 constructed of grass, dry stems, willow -down, 

 wool, and horsehair, and are cup-shaped ; they 

 are also frequently placed amongst nettles, a 

 habit which has earned for them the sobriquet 

 of ' nettle -creeper.' The nests of the blackcap 

 and garden warbler are very similar ; they are 

 also cup-shaped, made of dry grass, and lined 

 with fibrous roots and hair. 



