COMMON WHITETHROAT. 317 
overgrown with low brambles, nettles, and other wild 
weeds or herbage; hence one of the most common pro- 
vineial names by which this bird is known, that of 
Nettle Creeper. The males of this species arrive, as in 
several instances among our warblers, before the females ; 
and both are active, vigilant, and shy, easily alarmed, and 
retreating immediately into the seclusion afforded by the 
thick underwood and coarse vegetation of their favourite 
haunts. The nest is sometimes placed in a low bush, or 
among a tangled mass of long grass, weeds, and brambles. 
It is occasionally placed near the ground, and very seldom 
more than three feet above it. A nest before me is 
formed on the outside almost entirely of dried grass stems ; 
but the sides are very thin, lined with finer bents, and a few 
of the flowery heads of grass. The eggs are four or five in 
number, of a greenish white ground, spotted and speckled 
with ash-brown, and two shades of ash-green ; the long dia- 
meter nine lines, transverse diameter six lines and a half. Mr. 
Jenyns says, the first brood is fledged about the end of May. 
The food of this species consists of imsects in their va- 
rious states, particularly white caterpillars, and most of the 
smaller sized fruits and berries, to obtain some of which 
they visit the kitchen garden, and bring their young with 
them in July and August. Some of the notes of the 
voice of this bird are rather harsh, others are pleasing, 
though too frequently repeated; but he always sings in 
earnest, erecting his crest, puffing out his throat, shaking 
his wings, jerking his tail, and other movements, which 
mark his zeal and agitation. Occasionally he sings on the 
wing, ascending with a peculiar flight, rapidly describing 
small circles, and after a few turns descending to the spot 
from which he arose. They are equally lively and enter- 
taining when kept in confinement, and easily preserved in 
