78 THE BIKDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 



of tone, and is certainly more sustained. It is more 

 abundant in this delightful and secluded spot than any- 

 where I know, and I have frequently found Jits nest 

 placed in some of the low bushes under the trees at the 

 lower end of the lake. It is usually formed of goose- 

 grass, mlxeoTwitK small roots, and lined thinly with hair, 

 and sometimes with a little wool. I took a nest of this 

 species which was built of fine goose-grass and slender 

 fibres of a uniform thickness, looking exactly like black 

 and tarnished brass wire, and the singularity of the 

 appearance was increased by the lining of long black 

 horsehairs, which, as well as the materials forming the 

 body of the nest, were laid in concentric circles with 

 hardly any interlacing ; the whole formed a rather 

 loose yet neat structure. It was placed in a small box- 

 tree about three feet from the ground, and contained 

 four eggs. The kitchen gardens at Thoresby are also 

 frequented by the garden wartler, where they are very 

 partial to strawberries and raspberries. 



The Whitethroat (S. cinerea) is one of our commonest 

 summer visitors, and its loud and lively song is con- 

 stantly heard in our hedges and gardens. It is always 

 amusing, for it seems as if it was ever in a hurry to get 

 through its varied song. This is frequently interrupted, 

 like that of the sedge warbler, by an exact imitation of 

 the chirp of the house sparrow, and it was especially 

 remarkable in a pair that built in my own garden for 

 several years together, and which, from frequenting the 

 same spot for the erection of their nest, I judged to be 

 the same pair. A nut-tree was the place always chosen 

 by the male bird from which to pour forth his song, and 

 from a seat underneath I could watch him without being 

 perceived. His body was in incessant motion, the wings 



