vii TURDIDAE 517 



Cittocincla haunts thick woods, and deposits four oily-green eggs, 

 with brown and purplish spots and dashes, on a bed of leaves and 

 grass in holes in trees ; the unsuspicious Sialia utilizes cavities 

 in stumps or buildings, the nest and its contents resembling 

 those of a Redstart. The breeding habits of the Hedge-Sparrow 

 need no description, and those of the Alpine Accentor differ little, 

 except that rocky sites are chosen. 



In the above section the number of eggs varies from four to 

 seven. The flight is feeble as compared with that of Thrushes, 

 most species feeding chiefly upon the ground and being more insect- 

 ivorous, though Redstarts and Chats will take insects on the wing. 



The habits of the active Sylviinae are much more uniform ; they 

 seldom fly far, except on migration, and a few flit about like Wrens; 

 while Amytis, Stipiturus, Sphenura, and some species of Aedon 

 run, or hop among the herbage, with upturned tail. They frequent 

 trees, bushes, long grass or reeds, seldom flocking as does Megulus, 

 and live on insects and their larvae, small molluscs and fruit, the 

 first-named being either caught in the air or sought upon the 

 leaves and branches. The song is usually clear and sweet, though 

 often plaintive, metallic, or whistling ; the Willow- and Wood- 

 Warblers (Pliylloscopus) trill : the Black-cap and Garden-Warblers 

 (Sylvia) have beautiful songs, as well as grating alarm notes ; the 

 Cataract-bird (Origma) runs along rocky water-courses emitting 

 shrill cries ; the Reed- and Sedge- Warblers (Acrocephalus), the 

 skulking CeUia,snid other marsh- and grass-frequenting forms,utter 

 more or less jarring sounds, generally from some bush, whence they 

 quickly drop to cover; while the Grasshopper- Warblers (Locustella) 

 have a peculiar cricket-like note. 



The nest may be a thin or fairly substantial cup of grasses, 

 bed-straw (Galium) and the like, occasionally lined with hair, and 

 placed in bushes or rank herbage, as in the Black-cap, Garden- 

 Warbler and White-throats (Sylvia) ; or a firmer structure, includ- 

 ing wool, moss, feathers, reed-flowers, or even lichens, built on 

 the ground, in shrubs, in sedge, or between reed-stems, as is the 

 case in Locustella, Acrocephalus, Aedon, and Hypolais. Phyllo- 

 scopus, as well as some African and many Indian and Australian 

 members of the Sub-family, fashion a round ball of grass and a little 

 moss, lined with finer grasses, hair, down, or feathers, and generally 

 place it close to the earth ; Regulus hangs a cup of moss and spiders' 

 webs, bedded with feathers, below the end of a conifer or other 



