84. SYLVIA 



clearer and darker markings, creamy-white blotched with sandy- 

 brown or freckled with reddish, or white with violet-grey shell 

 markings and dark red spots. In size they average about 0'61 

 by 0'55, and are deposited from the end of April to the middle 

 of June. 



122. BLACKCAP. 

 SYLVIA ATRICAPILLA. 



Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 332 (1766) ; Hewitson, i. 

 p. 126, pi. xxxiv. figs. 1,2; Xaumann, ii. p. 492, Taf. 77, figs. 2, 3, 

 Taf. 368. figs. 1, 2 ;" (Gould), B. of E. ii. pi. 120 ; (id.) B. of Gt. 

 Brit. ii. pi. 60 ; Newton, i. p. 418 ; Dresser, ii. 421, pi. 66 ; 

 Saunders, p. 47 ; Lilford, iii. p. 56, pi. 28 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. v. p. 23. 



Fauvcttc a ttte noire, French ; Tutinegra Teal, Portug. ; 

 Puherilla, Span. ; Capinera, Ital. ; Monch, German ; Zwartkop, 

 Dutch ; Munkefugl, Dan. : Sorthcette, Norweg. ; Svarthnfmdc- 

 sdngare, Swed. : Mustapfidkerttu, Finn. ; Tschernogolovka, Russ. 



$ ad. (England). Crown glossy black ; upper parts generally ashy 

 brown washed with bluish on the nape and rump ; wings dark brown, 

 externally margined with brownish ash ; tail uniform ashy brown ; under 

 parts ashy grey, the chin, abdomen, under tail-coverts and under wing- 

 coverts white ; bill dark horn ; legs plumbeous ; iris brown. CulmenO'45, 

 wing 2'95, tail 2'45, tarsus 0'85 inch. The female has the crown rusty red, 

 the upper parts browner without any trace of ashy blue, and the under parts 

 ashy brown, where in the male they are ashy grey. In the winter the 

 upper and under parts are tinged with buffy brown. 



Hob. Europe, from North Africa to about 66 X. Lat., in 

 Scandinavia, and from the Azores and Canaries to the Ural 

 range and Persia, wintering in Africa as far south as Senegal, 

 Nubia, and Abyssinia. It has once been recorded from Siberia: 

 Great Britain north to Ross-shire, rarer in Ireland. 



Frequents woods, groves, and gardens, avoiding open places, 

 and creeps about amongst the foliage being far less at home 

 there than on the ground. Its call note resembles the syllables 

 tack, tack, and its alarm note is a low harsh sharr. Its song is 

 rich and sweet, not much below that of the Nightingale in 

 melody, and is generally uttered from some elevated perch. It 

 feeds chiefly on insects, but also on fruit and berries. The nest 

 is placed in a bush or low tree, and is loosely constructed of 

 grass, straws, and rootlets, and lined with fine bents and horse- 

 hair. The eggs are subject to considerable variation, but there 

 are generally two forms, the one resembling the eggs of the 



