THE BLACK CAl». 95 



bine ; it is very slightly made, and com- 

 posed of the dried straw and curled roots 

 of small grass, thinly interwoven with a 

 very few hairs, and bound to the tv/igs with 

 the cotton of plants : the inside of the 

 nest is deep and round : the eggs com- 

 monly five in number, are of a reddish 

 brown, sprinkled or marbled with spots of a 

 much darker colour. During the time of 

 incubation, the male attends the female, and 

 sits by turns; he likewise procures her 

 food, such as flies, worms, and insects. 

 The black cap sings sweetly, and so like 

 the nightingale, that in Norfolk it is called 

 the mock nightingale/' 



The young ones, which are hatched in 

 June, and may be taken when ten days old, 

 must be managed in the same way, and fed 

 with the same food as the nightingale and 

 redbreast ; as must also the old birds, both 

 in regard to food, and the treatment of 

 diseases. 



