22 The Food of Some British Wild Birds. 



Conclusion. 



The bulk of the food consists of injurious insects. What 

 little damage is done to peas and fruit is more than compensated 

 for by the nature of the remaining food. 



BLACKCAP. 



Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.). 



Essentially a summer visitant, the majority leaving this 

 country in September, a few, however, undoubtedly remain over 

 the winter. 



Observations made in the field during the past few years tend 

 to show that the numbers visiting this country are increasing, 

 these birds are much commoner in our orchards to-day than ever 

 they were. 



Archibald (4) states: "Its food consists of spiders, aphides, 

 and many other insects, sometimes captured on the wing, and of 

 wild fruits, including blackberries and the berries of ivy, privet, 

 and elder. It is also devoted to cultivated fruit, attacking cur- 

 rants, strawberries, raspberries and cherries, whilst, like the 

 whitethroat, it opens pea-pods." 



Smith (105) refers to this bird as follows : " A. family of black- 

 caps in a cherry orchard commit grave havoc. They do not eat a 

 quarter of the fruit they pick, and they are also very fond of rasp- 

 berries and figs. It is the worst summer bird we have in the fruit 

 plantations. " 



A well-known fruit-grower recently wrote me: "These birds 

 do a large amount of damage to wall fruit ; here we destroy all we 

 can. If protected at all, or allowed to increase, it will become one 

 of the worst orchard pests." 



Post-mortem Records. 



An examination of the stomach contents of 33 specimens gave 

 the following results : 



