Passeres 29 



the Nightingale remains with us till September, it is 

 little seen after the breeding season, and even then 

 chiefly as a reddish brown bird which pops out in front 

 of the observer and flies along to a neighbouring hedge 

 er bush. The curious nest is made outside of dry 

 leaves, usually of the oak, and is placed in vegetation 

 on the ground, or close to it ; the five or six eggs are 

 olive coloured or greenish with olive-brown markings. 

 The range extends from central Europe to Asia Minor 

 and north Africa. 



SUBFAMILY Sylviinae, OR WARBLERS 



In treating of the Warblers, the first point to notice 

 is that all students of bird-life must learn their notes in 

 the field. We cannot pretend to reproduce them here, 

 and the syllables given to represent them in books are 

 rarely understood alike by any two persons. This is, 

 moreover, true of most bird-voices ; we may truthfully 

 talk of a croak, a click, a hoot, a warble, and so forth, 

 or speak of such as harsh or sweet, but attempts to 

 imitate them on paper are sure to mislead. Warblers 

 live on slugs, worms, spiders, insects aquatic or other- 

 wise and their larvae, according to the species, and 

 some on fruits also ; insects are often captured on the 

 wing, while the smaller members of the group flit 

 characteristically among the leaves of trees, hunting 

 for their prey. 



With this prelude we may proceed to the Common 

 Whitethroat (Sylvia communis), the familiar species of 

 our more open woods and roadsides, easily recognised by 

 its early arrival, its habit of springing up a few feet in 

 the air to utter its monotonous notes before settling again 

 on the hedgerow, its white throat and its ruddy brown 



