The Bird Book 



eggs spotted with greenish or umber brown, form- 

 ing a zone round the larger end. Those of the 

 Whitethroat are brownish white, thickly marked 

 over with olive brown, with underlying spots of 

 violet grey, but the contrast is not nearly as pro- 

 nounced as in the Lesser Whitethroat. The birds 

 themselves are not so easily recognised, especially 

 as they are difficult to observe. Skulking about 

 in thick bushes and undergrowth, examining each 

 leaf in search of insects, is quite a feature of the 

 Warblers, and the Lesser Whitethroat is no excep- 

 tion. The Whitethroat does, indeed, show him- 

 self more often, but he is always on the move, now 

 settling on the top of the hedge, frequently utter- 

 ing his scolding note, now fluttering into the air 

 like a Tit Lark and singing as he descends, only 

 to disappear with a flick of the tail on the other 

 side of the hedge. The difference in size between 

 the birds is not so marked as to be a guide 

 to recognition, but the Whitethroat is REDDISH 

 BROWN on the back and the Lesser Whitethroat 

 BLUISH GREY, suffused with brown on the wings. 

 Here and there are beds of nettles and these are 

 always worth looking through, for down among 

 the stems, either on the ground or just above 

 it, supported perhaps by some dead branch, the 

 Nightingale places its nest. The structure, com- 

 posed chiefly of dead leaves and grasses, is deep 

 and cup-shaped, neatly finished off inside with fine 

 grasses or rootlets, occasionally with horse-hair. 

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