33 OXFORD : SPRING AND EARLY STTMMBR. 



hedge ; stopping when we stop, and Bounding a-head of us as 

 we walk on. This is the teasing way of the greater White- 

 throat, and it means that he is either building a nest in the 

 hedge, or thinking of doing so. If you give him time, however, 

 he will shew himself, flirting up to the top of the hedge, crooning, 

 craking, and popping into it again ; then flying out a little way, 

 cheerily singing a soft and truly warbling song, with fluttering 

 wings and roughened feathers, and then perhaps perching on 

 a twig to repeat it. Now you see the white of his throat ; 

 it is real white, and it does not go below the throat. In one 

 book I have seen the Garden-warbler called a "Whitethroat ; 

 but in his case the white is not so pure, and it is continued 

 down the breast. The throat of both Whitethroats is real 

 white, and they have a pleasant way of puffing it out, as if to 

 assure one that there is no mistake about it. 



But how to distinguish the two? for in size they differ 

 hardly enough to guide an inexperienced eye. There are 

 three points of marked difierence. The larger bird has a rufous 

 or rusty-coloured back,' and his wing-coverts are of much the 

 same colour ; while the back of the lesser bird is darkish or 

 greyish brown. Secondly, the head of the lesser Whitethroat 

 is of a much darker bluish-grey tint. But much the best 

 point of distinction in the breeding season is in the song. 

 As I have said, the larger bird warbles; but the lesser one, 

 after a little preliminary soliloquy in an under-tone, bursts 

 out into a succession of high notes, all of exactly the same 

 pitch. It took me some time to find out who was the 



' The scientific name is appropriate, viz. Sylvia rufa. 



