THE WHITETHHOAT. 79 



the feathers upon the top of the head, and so forms a 

 crest. The song has been variously described, but to our 

 mind it is decidedly pleasing. It consists of a pretty 

 phrase uttered in a joyous manner, and accompanied with 

 many odd jerks and gestures. The usual mode of delivery 

 is whilst the bird is fluttering at a height of about 

 twenty feet, having risen from the spray of bramble 

 upon which it was sitting. Thus, with butterfly-like 

 motions and jerking neck, it utters its carol, and then 

 suddenly drops with subsiding song into the bush it had 

 quitted so shortly before. The call-notes of the bird are 

 very varied. At times it sounds somewhat like "hived, 

 hived ; " again, like " cha, cha ;" and at other times like 

 <( purr, purr " each note doubtless expressing some dis- 

 tinct phase of the singer's feeling. 



The Whitethroats at certain seasons are real friends to 

 the gardener, as their food, and that of their young, is 

 then almost entirely insectivorous. They live principally 

 upon caterpillars, small beetles, and winged insects, 

 catching the latter in an adroit manner whilst upon the 

 wing ; but as summer advances the Whitethroat takes toll 

 of currants, raspberries, and strawberries, and in autumn 

 elderberries are the staple food. 



The young do not obtain the bluish-grey upon the 

 head until the succeeding spring, the feathers meanwhile 

 being brown ; neither have they the beautiful delicate shade 

 of pink upon the breast until we see them again in England 

 in the succeeding spring, upon their return migration. 

 The autumn migration commences in September, and 

 continues until October. Instances have occurred of their 

 remaining later, an individual bird having been observed 

 even in December ; but this is rare. 



