244 SYLVIADA. 
In this country it is resident throughout the year, fre- 
quenting hedge-rows, gardens, and pleasure-grounds, from 
spring to autumn, where it feeds indiscriminately on in- 
sects in their various stages, worms, and seeds, but not 
on fruit ; drawing nearer to the habitations of men as 
winter approaches, to gain such scanty subsistence as 
chance or kindness may afford ; and Gilbert White of Sel- 
borne remarks, that it is a frequenter of gutters and drains 
in hard weather, where crumbs and other sweepings may 
be picked up. It is more frequently seen on the ground 
than elsewhere, is unobtrusive and harmless, and deserves 
protection and support. 
Early in February the male may be heard singing his 
short and plaintive song; but the voice of this little fa- 
vourite, though sweet in tone, is deficient in variety as 
well as in power: yet his song may still be heard through- 
out the greater part of the year, if we except a short 
period in August when undergoing his annual moult. Mr. 
Knapp has observed that Hedge Warblers are almost 
always seen in pairs, feeding and moving in company with 
each other, and may truly, in a double sense, be consi- 
dered domestic birds. Their nest, built of green moss, 
roots and wool, and lmed with hair, is usually placed 
rather low down in a thick bush or hedge-row, and is 
generally finished early in March. As observed in the 
Journal of a Naturalist, “it is nearly the first bird that 
forms a nest ; and this beimg placed in an almost leafless 
hedge, with little art displayed in its concealment, gene- 
rally becomes the booty of every prymg boy; and the 
blue eggs of the Hedge Warbler are always found in such 
numbers on his string, that it is surprising how any of 
the race are remaining, especially when we consider the 
many casualties to which the old birds are exposed from 
