COMMON WHITETHROAT. 317 



overgrown with low brambles, nettles, and other wild 

 weeds or herbage ; hence one of the most common pro- 

 vincial names by which this bird is known, that of 

 Nettle Creeper. The males of this species arrive, as in 

 several instances among our warblers, before the females ; 

 and both are active, vigilant, and shy, easily alarmed, and 

 retreating immediately into the seclusion afforded by the 

 thick underwood and coarse vegetation of their favourite 

 haunts. The nest is sometimes placed in a low bush, or 

 among a tangled mass of long grass, weeds, and brambles. 

 It is occasionally placed near the ground, and very seldom 

 more than three feet above it. A nest before me is 

 formed on the outside almost entirely of dried grass stems ; 

 but the sides are very thin, lined with finer bents, and a few 

 of the flowery heads of grass. The eggs are four or five in 

 number, of a greenish white ground, spotted and speckled 

 with ash-brown, and two shades of ash-green ; the long dia- 

 meter nine lines, transverse diameter six lines and a half. Mr. 

 Jenyns says, the first brood is fledged about the end of May. 

 The food of this species consists of insects in their va- 

 rious states, particularly white caterpillars, and most of the 

 smaller sized fruits and berries, to obtain some of which 

 they visit the kitchen garden, and bring their young with 

 them in July and August. Some of the notes of the 

 voice of this bird are rather harsh, others are pleasing, 

 though too frequently repeated ; but he always sings in 

 earnest, erecting his crest, puffing out his throat, shaking 

 his wings, jerking his tail, and other movements, which 

 mark his zeal and agitation. Occasionally he sings on the 

 wing, ascending with a peculiar flight, rapidly describing 

 small circles, and after a few turns descending to the spot 

 from which he arose. They are equally lively and enter- 

 taining when kept in confinement, and easily preserved in 



