BLACKCAP. 97 



a lining, and the outer parts cemented together with spiders' 

 webs and wool. It is strong and tolerably compact, though 

 slight. Anything like meddling with it, or intruding upon 

 it, is jealously watched, and the smallest disturbance causes 

 the nest to be forsaken. Several in fact are frequently 

 abandoned, either from apprehension or caprice, before they 

 have been finished. Alfred Newton, Esq., of Elveden Hall, 

 near Thetford, mentions in the 'Zoologist,' page 1024, his 

 having known a nest to be found there on the llth. of 

 March, 1845, which contained an egg at that early date. 



The eggs, usually four or five in number, are of a pale 

 greenish white colour, mottled with light brown and grey, 

 with a few spots and streaks of dark brown. They vary a 

 good deal both in size and shape. 



Frederick Stafford, Esq., of De Warren House, Northfleet, 

 Kent, has informed me of his having obtained from the county 

 of Norfolk, four eggs of this species of a beautiful salmon- 

 colour, in no way the effect of incubation, as only one egg 

 had been deposited when the nest was first discovered. This 

 pink variety is not very unfrequent. J. A. Drake, Esq. has 

 also forwarded me a good variety. 



Both birds sit on the eggs, but the female naturally the 

 most. The male frequently sings while so engaged. The 

 female, when sitting, is occasionally fed by her partner. The 

 young are said to leave the nest rather soon, roosting with 

 their parents on the adjoining boughs. 



Male; weight, about four drachms and a half; length, five 

 inches and three quarters to six inches and a trifle over; bill, 

 dark horn-colour, paler beneath, the edges yellowish grey; the 

 inside of the mouth bluish grey; iris, dark brown. Head on 

 the crown, black; its sides, the neck on the back, and nape, 

 ash-coloured; chin, throat, and breast, ash-coloured, the latter 

 white on the lower part, tinged with yellowish grey. Back, 

 brownish ash-colour. 



The wings, which extend to nine inches and about a quarter, 

 have the first quill feather very short, the second longer than 

 the sixth, but shorter than the fifth, the third the longest; 

 primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, greyish brown, their 

 outer edges pale yellowish brown; underneath they are grey; 

 greater and lesser under wing coverts, white. Tail underneath, 

 grey; legs and toes, lead-coloured, the latter tinged with green 

 beneath; claws, brown. 



The female resembles the male, but her plumage is more 



VOL. IV. H 



