a low, soft refrain is heard, exceedingly plaintive, though charming in tone. 

 The song is given forth from the topmost spray of some lofty tree, from some 

 dense shrub, or from the midst of some tangle of nettles and brambles. It is 

 not easy to catch a glimpse of the little songster, unless one creeps on him 

 unawares : he sings as he hops about from one twig to another in search of 

 insects ; sometimes he will remain motionless for a minute or two, pouring 

 forth his song, every nerve strained in his eagerness to excel. The call-note 

 of the Blackcap is a loud ' tac-tac-tac-tac^ and when alarmed it scolds just like 

 the Whitethroat. 



The Blackcap is probably more of a fruit and berry eater than its congeners, 

 although it feeds on insects to a great extent. On its first arrival in this country 

 during April, it may often be noticed feeding on the last year's berries which 

 still remain on the ivy. In summer it is fond of all sorts of garden fruits, 

 raspberries, currants, cherries, and even gooseberries being eaten, and when these 

 are over it feeds on those of the mountain-ash, ivy, etc. 



The nest of the Blackcap is rarely found before May, although it arrives 

 early and pairs almost immediately, possibly because the vegetation is hardly 

 dense enough to provide sufficient concealment. The site chosen is usually in 

 the densest and most secluded part of its haunts. Sometimes it is placed 

 in some evergreen, boxwood, holly, or fir, sometimes amongst briars and 

 brambles growing but a few feet from the ground, or in some dense hedge 

 overgrown with bindweed. I have occasionally found it in the open fork of a 

 hazel in some secluded corner of a plantation, perfectly open and visible from 

 a distance. Although very slight in structure, it is beautifully rounded and 

 compactly built. It is made of dry grass, stalks of leaves and plants, coarse 

 roots, and a little moss sometimes, cemented together with cobwebs and pieces 

 of insects' cocoons, and carefully lined with horse-hair. 



The eggs laid vary in number from three to six ; they are subject to 

 considerable variation in colour, but the eggs in the same clutch have the 

 same character. There are three distinct types. The first and commonest type 

 is dirty white in ground-colour, suffused with yellowish brown, and clouded 

 with darker tints of the same colour; here and there are a few rich brown 

 spots or streaks. The second type is very pale bluish white in ground-colour; 

 most of the markings are underlying ones of delicate violet grey, with a few 

 surface blotches of yellowish brown and one or two spots or streaks of dark 

 brown. The third, and rarest, has the ground-colour of a uniform pale 

 brick-red colour, indistinctly marbled with darker shades, and a few spots and 

 blotches of reddish brown. Some specimens are indistinguishable from those 



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