SYLVIINE. 47 
THE BLACKCAP. 
SYLVIA ATRICAP{LLa (Linnzeus). 
The principal arrival of this songster, hardly inferior to the 
Nightingale, takes place in England about the middle of April ; 
but occasionally some Blackcaps remain with us through the winter, 
not only in the mild south-west, but even as far north as Berwick. 
Even after a severe winter I once watched a male at a very short 
distance, in Surrey, on March 5th, and Mr. Borrer has several times 
heard its note as early as the ist of that month. The majority 
depart for the south in September. Although somewhat local, the 
Blackcap appears to be of tolerably general distribution throughout 
England and Wales. In Scotland it becomes scarce as a breeder 
beyond the Firths of Clyde and Forth, but its nest has been found 
as far north as Ross shire; while a pair attempted to establish 
themselves in a garden in Unst, in the Shetlands, to which group, 
as well as to the Orkneys, Caithness, Sutherland, and the Outer 
Hebrides the bird is a visitor, chiefly on the autumn migration. In 
the mild, moist climate of the south-west it remains until late in the 
year, and Mr. R. Service captured one near Dumfries on November 
-2gth, 1881; while Mr. H. Evans informs me that it is found in 
Jura till December, and he believes it to be a resident. In Ireland 
it occurs sparingly in summer, the nest having been found in the 
counties of Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, 
