492 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



Whitethroat. 



differ materially from adults in colour. This group of birds, in common with the 

 Ruticillince, is of almost universal distribution, but so preponderates in the Eastern 

 Hemisphere, that Mr. Wallace describes it as an Old World assemblage only 

 meagrely represented in North America. 



The common whitethroat (Sylvia rufa) is one of the most 

 abundant of summer birds throughout Europe, arriving in its 



breeding-haunts in 

 April, and speedily com- 

 mencing to make its 

 artless nest, composed 

 of dry stems of grass 

 and flowering plants, 

 lined with finer bents 

 and sometimes a little 

 horsehair. The eggs 

 are white, mottled with 

 olive-green specks. The 

 male sings noisily upon 

 the wing, generally 

 starting up from the 

 top of a hawthorn 

 hedge, and then slowly 

 descending, with the 

 tail at an angle to the 

 body. It may fre- 

 quently be seen picking 

 small moths off the 

 blossoms of the gorse, 

 as it flits actively from 

 LESSER AND COMMON WHITETHROAT (| nat. size). one plant to another, 



and utters a harsh 



croak. The adult male has the upper-parts greyish brown, the wing-coverts and 

 innermost secondaries being edged with chestnut, the outer tail-feathers margined 

 with white, and the lower-parts buffy white. 



Lesser The lesser whitethroat (S. curruca) is a scarcer bird than the 



Whitethroat. i^, but its pretty song may be heard about the hedgerows and 

 bushes in many parts of Europe. The nest is placed in a bush or shrub, firmly 

 built of strong bents, lined with finer bents, fibre, and horsehair ; the eggs being 

 white, spotted with olive-brown. The lesser whitethroat is very partial to gardens, 

 this being partly accounted for by its fondness for fruit, which is especially mani- 

 fested when raspberries become ripe. It becomes very tame in confinement, and 

 eats pears and other fruit with avidity. The adult male has the upper-parts slaty 

 grey, suffused with brown on the back, the wings and tail are brown ; the under-parts 

 white, the breast tinged with pink, and the ear-coverts dark brown, and conspicuous. 

 Subaipine The subalpine warbler (S. subalpind) has a wide range, inhabiting 



Warbler. the whole of the Mediterranean region, as well as North Africa and 



