THE BLACKCAP. 45 



sought after as cage-birds, but not to the same 

 extent, for their song is neither so musical nor 

 so varied. 



In no part of the country are these four 

 species more plentiful than in the south-eastern 

 counties of England ; and the neighbourhood of 

 the metropolis seems to have some special at- 

 traction for them. Far from shunning " the 

 busy haunts of men," they appear to be nowhere 

 more at home than in our gardens and orchards. 

 The reason is obvious as soon as we become 

 acquainted with their habits, and the nature of 

 their food. We then discover that their motives 

 are not so disinterested as we might suppose, 

 since the real attraction \s, fruit. Upon this the 

 parent birds live to a great extent ; and after 

 bringing up their young upon various kinds of 

 insects which infest fruit trees — in which they 

 unquestionably do us good service — they intro- 

 duce their progeny at length to the more palat- 

 able pulp upon which they themselves have 

 been faring so sumptuously. No wonder, then, 

 that the large market-gardens of Kent, Surrey, 



