326 Common Wild Birds of the Scarborough District. 



the borough and is fairly common about the Scarborough district. From 

 April 26th until July 8th it sings continuously in hedges, bushes and trees, 

 rising higher amongst the foliage than the last-named species and in this 

 habit seeming to belong more to the Willow Wren tribe. Its nest, usually 

 built from 3 feet to 7 feet above the ground in hedges, bushes or low 

 herbage — one that I found was in a thin, young larch — is I think, the 

 smallest and lightest nest, properly so called, made by any British bird. 

 I have weighed one and found that it did not exceed the eighth of an 

 ounce. Made of the finest dead grasses and hei^bage stems, roots, hair, 

 wool and spiders' web it is the merest ghost of a nest. Five eggs are laid 

 each weighing but -05 oz. I copy the following from my bird note book, 

 written at the time of occurrence : ' when I found one nest in a hedge and 

 containing only three fresh eggs, the female left the nest and with a 

 shivering motion of the wings fluttered along the ground for thirtj' to forty 

 yards, the action which is supposed to be one of a bird's devices for enticing 

 an intruder away from the nest. I have never before or since seen any 

 bird continue this action for so long. These eggs were hatched thirteen 

 days after laying. 



The Blackcap [Sylvia airicapilla L.). A fairly common bird in our 

 most sheltered woods from April 24th, singing freely until June 21st and 

 on that day from 2-26 a.m. till 8-48 p.m. Amongst its full rich notes it 

 sometimes introduces some rather harsh and squeeky sounds. Then and 

 at other times I find it most difficult to tell whether I am listening to a 

 blackcap or a garden warbler, a scarcely inferior songster. Its thin nest 

 is made of roots, grasses, vegetable down, wool, horse-hair and rarely a 

 little moss. It is placed in brambles and herbage, low bushes or honey- 

 suckle from 18 ins. to 5 feet above ground. Usually five eggs, I have found 

 six in a nest all more or less of the typical colouring ; once only a nest 

 containing five of the distinctly rare and beautiful pink variety. Weight 

 of an egg -06 oz. Twice I have seen the cock bird sitting. 



*The Garden Warbler {Sylvia hortensis Bechstein). I think I am 

 justified in saying that twice as many Garden Warblers as Blackcaps 

 come to this district every summer. In most other parts of England 

 their comparative numbers are, I should say, reversed. I have heard it 

 singing from May nth to July 12th and from 2-20 a.m. till 8-25 p.m. 

 In nesting habits it much resembles the last-named species though often 

 choosing more open situations, and from i foot up to 7 feet above ground — 

 higher than the Blackcap builds — in brambles, herbage, bushes and 

 honeysuckle. The nest is usually of lighter construction than that of the 

 Blackcap, dead grasses, fine roots and hair being the only materials used 

 in the nests that I have examined. Usually five eggs, I have found seven 

 in a nest. Weight, -07 oz. He is a very cocksure ornithologist who says 

 that he can always distinguish these from the Blackcap's eggs. The usual 

 alarm note is a harsh ' Chur, chur, chur, chur,' rapidly uttered, but one 

 I heard uttered a shrill loud cry like the call of a young thrush when 

 caught, whilst its mate uttered a faint ^ee-eep like the alarm note of the 

 Willow Wren. The former of the two birds came within a yard of me 

 and displayed intense agitation, although its nest contained only two eggs. 



Respect for the editor's difficulty in finding space forbids me here to 

 dwell on the subject of individual character in wild animals, but long 

 experience has led me to the conclusion that one individual of a wild 

 species may differ as much in character from other members of its own 

 species as one domestic cat or goose may do from other members of its 

 fraternity. 



The Golden-Crested Wren (i?eg'M;MS cristatus Koch). A resident bird, 

 not uncommon in most sheltered woods, especially where spruce and 

 silver firs occur, though in hunting for food they do not confine their 

 attention to these trees. In autumn large numbers are added to the 

 residential population. I have heard its faint and very rapid song as 

 early as February 14th and as late as August 19th. The host of autumn 



Naturalist, 



