LESSER WHITETHROAT BLACKCAP. 11 



Nest. Mid-May onwards. Two broods. 



Site. In middle or base of low, thick bush, among nettles, 

 brambles, &c. 



Materials. Dry grass and stalks, lined with finer grass, 

 bents, and horsehair. Cup deep and flimsily constructed. 



Eggs. Greenish white, mottled and blotched with olive and 

 slaty grey ; variable. 



LESSEE WHITETHKOAT .(Sylvia curruca). 



Migrant ; May to September. More local than last ; scarce 

 in West and North, unknown in Ireland. 



Haunts. Thickets, copses, shrubberies, &c., much as last. 



Observation. Slightly smaller than last and, unlike it, has 

 darker lores. 



Plumage. Crown of head, neck, and back greyish brown. 

 Lores almost black. Wings ash-brown, with pale tips and 

 margins. Breast and flanks white, tinged with yellowish 

 brown ; under parts white. Bill black. Legs slate-grey. 

 Length 5J in. Female, smaller and duller. Young browner. 



Language. Song, a short, vigorous strain, consisting of the 

 rapid repetition of one whistling kind of note ; anxiety note, 

 " kek kek," and another, "tse-tse," somewhat like one of the 

 Blue Tit's utterances. 



Habits. Closely resembling the last, extremely restless, and 

 a great skulker when alarmed, not easily flushed from nest. 

 Flight undulating, with quickly beating and somewhat feeble 

 agitations of the wings. 



Food. Insects and their larvas principally ; inordinately fond 

 of raspberries and currants. 



Nest. May onwards. 



Site. In thick hedges, brambles, and other bushes ; not so 

 low down as last, and always well concealed. 



Materials. Bents and rootlets, neatly intertwined with cob- 

 webs, lined with finer materials and horsehair; cup shallower 

 than last. 



Eggs. Four to five. Dull or creamy white, spotted and 

 blotched witli slate or purplish grey and olive-brown ; often 

 zoned ; variable. 



BLACKCAP (Sylvia atricapilla) . 



Migrant ; April to September ; sometimes winters here. 

 Rather local, but found in most counties. Rarer in Scotland 

 and Ireland. 



Haunts. Thickets and wild places, abounding in tangles of 

 brambles and the like ; also gardens. 



Plumage. Head above eyes jet-black. Throat, chin, and 



