The Bird Book 



withered leaves are woven into an oval-shaped, 

 domed structure, having the entrance hole at the 

 side near the top. The interior is cosily lined with 

 hair and feathers and contains from five to seven 

 eggs, white, and somewhat sparsely spotted with 

 dark or purplish brown. This little Warbler is 

 one of the first to arrive and soon makes his 

 presence known by his constant cry, " chifF-chafF, 

 chiff-chaff," uttered from the top of some tree, as 

 he scours the tiny branches for food, after the 

 fashion of a Tit. 



Passing on, we are likely to discover the nests 

 of the Black-cap and Garden Warbler even more 

 airily built than that of the Whitethroat and well 

 concealed in some bramble bush. The nest and 

 eggs of both are very similar, but the birds can 

 readily be distinguished by the black crown of the 

 male (rufous brown in the female) Black -cap. 

 Otherwise they are much the same in size, build, 

 and colouring, brown above and whitish below. 

 Both share the habit common to all Warblers of 

 anxiously fluttering round and scolding when any 

 intruder is at the nest, so there is little likelihood 

 of confusing their eggs. 



The most usual type of egg is pale olive brown 

 or stone colour, clouded with darker olive and 

 marked with a few blackish brown spots and 

 streaks. In general it may be said that the mark- 

 ing of those of the Garden Warbler is a little 

 bolder and coarser. The Black-cap is one of the 

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