RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



alone, for various berries are eaten, notably those of the 

 ivy, and the fruit gardens, too, are visited for sustenance. 

 It would thus seem that the Blackcap, adapting itself as 

 it does to various forms of food, would, like the Robin 

 or Wren, remain with us throughout the winter ; but 

 after the middle of August they gradually decrease in 

 numbers, and I never see them later than the autumnal 

 equinox, a period, by the way, which marks the dis- 

 appearance of many of our birds of passage. 



Closely resembling the Blackcap is the Whitethroat, 

 but no black or rufous covering adorns the head of the 

 male or female. When the hedgerows are almost en- 

 shrouded in foliage, and the thick undergrowth is gain- 

 ing vigour under the beams of the vernal sun, we hear 

 the little Whitethroat giving forth his discordant cries as 

 he threads his way through the tangled vegetation. A 

 bird loving retirement and the thick matted fences, still 

 he is by no means shy, nay, almost as trustful as the 

 little Willow Warblers themselves. We find the White- 

 throat in small numbers on the lonely moors, as well as 

 round the hedgerows, but in the htter situations he is 

 most common. On the moors he frequents the bushes. 

 I am of opinion that the male Whitethroats do not 

 generally sing at the time of arrival, but after a few days, 

 probably when the females have arrived, we hear them 

 giving forth occasional snatches of melody ; and as the 

 month of May rolls on they utter their varied song much 

 oftener, and in strains of greater power and richness. 

 Early in June the Whitethroat may be said to be in full 

 song. His song in parts is indescribably sweet, and I 

 know of no migratory songster, the little Willow Warbler 

 excepted, that sings so boldly and in such exposed situa- 

 tions. He ofttimes poises himself on the topmost spray 

 of a bush or tree, and warbles long and loud : he is not 



