212 INSESSORES. CURRUCA. PETTYCHAPS. 



Nest, &c. It builds its nest amongst nettles or other thick herbage, 

 forming it of the decayed stems of goose-grass (Galium apa- 

 rine), or the seed-bearing stems of umbelliferous plants, 

 fibres of roots, and a little moss, flimsily interwoven ; lay- 

 ing four or five eggs, of a yellowish-grey colour, blotched 

 with wood brown, principally at the larger end. The alarm- 

 call of this species is very similar to that of the White-Throat 

 (Sylvia cinerea). In Bewick's early edition of his History 

 of British Birds, a mistake has been committed, in affixing 

 some of the synonyms of the Sylvia hippolais (Lesser Pet- 

 ty chaps), to a bird evidently answering, by the description 

 there given, to the species now under consideration. 



PLATE 46. Fig. 4. A male bird of the natural size. 

 General The whole of the upper parts oil-green, with a shade of 

 ash-grey. On each side of the lower part of the neck is 

 a patch of ash-grey. Throat greyish- white. Breast and 

 flanks yellowish-grey, inclining to wood-brown. Belly 

 and vent greyish-white. Orbits of the eyes white. Iri- 

 des brown. Bill wood-brown. Legs and claws bluish- 

 grey. 



The female is similar in plumage to the male bird. 



The young of the year have the region of the eyes greyish- 

 white. Head, upper part of the neck, back, rump, and 

 wing-coverts, yellowish-brown, passing into oil-green. 

 Quills greenisn-grey, edged with oil-green. Cheeks and 

 sides of neck yellowish-grey. Throat, breast, sides, and 

 under tail-coverts wine-yellow. Middle of the belly 

 white. Legs, toes, and claws pearl-grey. 



