LACKCAP 



Sylvia atricapilla 



Blackcap is one of the best-known of our warblers; it 

 is a comparatively early migrant, and may be seen in its 

 accustomed haunts by the middle of April. It seems 

 probable that a few birds winter with us, as there are 

 several records of specimens being obtained at that season. 

 The Blackcap is widely, though very locally, distributed, 

 being abundant in one district and comparatively unknown 

 in another adjoining part of the country. In Scotland it is even more local 

 and less common. It has been observed in many of the central and southern 

 counties, is recorded from Caithness and Sutherland on migration, and Saxby 

 observed it in Shetland regularly in late autumn. In Ireland the Blackcap is 

 said to be even rarer and more local than in Scotland. 



The haunts of the Blackcap are among the secluded corners of plantations, 

 where the undergrowth is thick, where the hazels and hawthorns are overgrown 

 with brambles and briars, or along the tangled hedgerows overgrown with 

 bindweed and convolvulus. It does not care for the denser parts of the 

 woods, but loves the little open patches studded with bramble-covered bushes 

 and surrounded with thick cover, to which it can retire on the approach 

 of danger. The Blackcap is a very restless bird, and is always moving 

 about from twig to twig, sometimes appearing for a moment on some lofty 

 spray, but immediately disappearing into the dense parts of his favourite 

 cover. 



The song of the Blackcap must be heard to be appreciated ; no amount of 

 description can give any idea of its peculiarly rich tone. So full of power 

 is his song, that one is often led to suspect the presence of a much larger 

 songster than a Blackcap. His powers of modulation are wonderful : sometimes 

 he pours forth a torrent of full, rich notes, which ring through the wood ; again, 



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