WARBLERS. 103 



WARBLERS. 



TTTE have here another group of Sylvan Birds or Warblers, and a 

 specially interesting one, as it contains our unrivalled songster, the 

 Nightingale, and another bird only second on the list of woodland 

 choristers for the perfection of its vocal powers the Blackcap. How 

 marvellous is the gift possessed by these little creatures, of pouring 

 forth so powerful and rich a melody from such tiny throats, filling the 

 very air of the woods and groves in which they dwell with their sweet 

 thrilling music. Could human beings possess an equal amount of 

 power in proportion to their size, what singers we should have, the 

 inhabitants of a whole town might listen to their voices without even 

 leaving their homes. The Nightingale is the only British representative 

 of the genus Philomela; it is distinguished from the birds of the genus 

 Sylvia, to which the Blackcap and the other species in our group belong, 

 by its more slender form, and longer wings, legs, and tail. It feeds 

 on insects, and is a migratory bird in this and other temperate countries. 

 The Sylviae or Warblers are sprightly active little birds, frequenting 

 woods, plantations, hedgerows, gardens, and orchards. Their bills are 

 short, straight, and thin, their tails and wings of moderate length, their 

 legs rather short, and their feet slender. In plumage they are not 

 brilliant or conspicuous, being for the most part of a greyish or reddish 

 brown tint on the wings and upper parts; the black head of one, and 

 the white throats of two others, are their most prominent features. 



