110 THE SMALLER 2WITISH BTfiDS. 



Wales and tho North of Ireland. In Scotland it has been observed 

 throughout the southern parts. It is not uncommon in the valley of 

 the Clyde, especially about Hamilton; and occurs in Renfrewshire, 

 Ayrshire, Perthshire, and Forfarshiro. Mr. T. Edwards has heard 

 these birds sing near Banff, at Mayen and Rothicmary, and in the 

 grounds of Duff House. They have never been noticed in the Shetland 

 N.-s, but a single specimen is recorded to have been shot in Orkney, 

 in the summer of 1846. 



The favourite resorts of the Blackcap are woods, plantations, thick 

 hedges, shrubberies, gardens, and orchards. It builds its nest in the 

 fork of a bush, at the height of two or three feet from the ground, 

 and is very careful in selecting a well-sheltered and thoroughly con- 

 cealed position, sometimes even abandoning the structure before it is 

 completed in two or three instances, in consequence of some real or 

 fancied insecurity in tho spot chosen. In construction the nest is 

 strong and tolerably compact, although slight. The materials of the 

 exterior are dry grass and fibrous roots, mixed with a little wool 

 or moss; the interior is lined with fine fibrous roots and hair. The 

 eggs, four or five in number, are usually of a pale greenish white 

 colour, faintly mottled with brown and grey, and spotted and streaked 

 with blackish brown. They vary a good deal both in colour and size; 

 specimens have been found of a beautiful salmon colour, and others 

 pure white, richly blotched with red. The males share with the 

 females the duties of the nest, but they have a habit of singing 

 loudly when so occupied, aud thus sometimes attract the notice of 

 the passer by, and cause tho discovery of the nest, and the loss of 

 the eggs. 



These birds feed largely upon insects, but also upon raspberries, 

 red currants, cherries, and other fruit. They are also very partial to 

 elderberries; Mr. Stevenson, in the "Birds of Norfolk," says, "I once 

 saw a Blackcap partaking of these berries with such amusing voracity 

 that he finished a largo bunch in detail before ho noticed my face 

 within a few inches of his fruit-stained beak. At that moment his 

 combined expression of fright and repletion was one of the most 

 comic bird scenes I ever witnessed. A small unfeathered biped, caught 

 in the very act of clearing a jam-pot, with his rueful countenance 

 besmeared with the sweets, would perhaps form the nearest approach 

 to the guilty look of that little glutton." When searching for cater- 

 pillars, beetles, and flies, these birds wind about among the branches 

 in a most graceful and agile manner, inspecting every likely spot with 

 the closest care and attention, and making their way through the 

 thickest underwood with wonderful ease and rapidity. 



