244 THE WHITE-THROAT. 



we were frequently obliged to put our favourite out of the room, 

 not being able to bear its loud notes ; it was certainly the best 

 bird 1 ever kept of any kind, singing nearly the whole year 

 through, and varying its song continually ; the only fault was 

 its strong voice. At last, our favourite was turned out of its 

 cage by a mischievous servant on a cold winter day, when we 

 were from home for about an hour, and we could not entice it 

 back ; it most probably died of the cold, or took its flight to a 

 warmer region. I scarcely entertain any hopes of ever getting 

 such another ; the food of the present species is precisely the 

 same as the last. 



MR. SWEETS ACCOUNT OF THE STONECHAT. 



This, like the preceding, is generally to be found on hills 

 and commons, harbouring chiefly amongst the furze bushes, 

 and feeds, as far as I have observed, entirely on insects. It is 

 not so tender as the whinchat, some few of them occasionally 

 stopping in tliis country all the winter. It feeds, when wild, 

 on small beetles, flies, as also all sorts of butterflies, moths, cater- 

 pillars, woodlice, and various other insects. 



In confinement their food must be the same as the whinchat's. 

 rhey soon become very tame, and if bred up from the nest 

 will learn the notes of other birds, wliich are in general better 

 than their own. Their own song, though loud, is very short, 

 but fhey have a strong voice to repeat the notes of another 

 bird. 



THE WHITE-THROAT 



Sylvia cinerea. Beckstein ; Le Fativetle grise ou Giisette, Buffon ; Die gemeine 

 Grasmiicke, Bechsti.in. 



This bird is five mches and a half in length, of which the 

 tail measures two and three-quarters. The beak, five lines 



