" The nest is composed of dead grass and stalks." 



THE LESSER WHITETHROAT 



T 



all but the initiated in orni- 

 thology this bird is likely 

 to be passed by, or confused 

 with its more numerous 

 cousin, the Greater or Com- 

 mon Whitethroat. In order, 

 therefore, to help the stu- 

 dent to distinguish it, I 

 will mention one or two points wherein 

 it differs from the last-named species. 

 It is, as its name implies, smaller, measur- 

 ing only from five to five and a quarter 

 inches in length, whereas its congener 

 is about five and a half inches long from 

 the tip of the bill to the end of the tail. 

 It has darker ear coverts, and especially 

 so in the case of the male ; the dusky 

 wing and tail feathers are edged with 

 greyish-brown, whereas in the case of 

 the Greater Whitethroat these qiiills are 

 bordered with chestnut. The species 

 under notice generally builds in a higher 

 situation, and lays smaller eggs, which 

 are white or creamy white in ground 

 colour, with a very faint tinge of green, 



and somewhat boldly spotted and 

 speckled, especially at the larger end, 

 with greenish-brown and ash grey. 



The nest is composed of dead grass 

 stalks, with an inner lining of horse- 

 hair, and is sometimes bound together 

 by means of cobwebs. 



The specimen figured in our photo- 

 gravure nested about four feet from the 

 ground in an old hedgerow running 

 parallel with a well-used footpath, and 

 almost overgrown with brambles. Within 

 a dceen yards of her a Common or 

 Greater Whitethroat sat covering a 

 brood of tiny chicks, and, contrary to 

 expectation, the smaller bird proved to 

 be much bolder in confronting the 

 camera. At first she would tolerate the 

 apparatus, but not the photographer, 

 and whenever I approached to expose a 

 plate she quietly slipped off the nest 

 and scolded me vehemently in harsh, 

 angry notes from the darkest depths of 

 the straggling overgrown hedgerow. The 

 male bird fed her as she sat upon the 



