164 THE BLACKCAP 



with us; like the Nightingale, it is local in its habitat. 

 The young fuss about after their parents for food 

 supplies, after they have left the nest, more than most 

 young birds do. Often the Blackcap builds in a privet 

 hedge, or some bush near to garden or orchard, for 

 the sake of the fruit of which it certainly avails itself a 

 little. Do not grudge it, the song will make up for a 

 slight loss of fruit, which is the more plentiful for the 

 little bird's making away with insect pests that infest 

 the same precincts. 



The Blackcap's mantle is olive-grey, underparts 

 nearly white ; the colouring of the head forms a black 

 cap, which extends over the eyes : hence its distin- 

 guished name. The cap is brown on the female bird 

 and its young. Tail and wings dark-brown ; beat 

 thin, awl-shaped : legs strong : very bright dark-brown 

 eyes. The nest is always found in thick bushes, near 

 the ground > and it is furnished with grass and rootlets, 

 and also the webs of insects, sometimes hair, but very 

 little feather. It contains five or six eggs, which vary 

 in colour, being sometimes brownish, sometimes nearly 

 white or olive-grey, speckled or otherwise marked with a 

 reddish tint. 



