WHITETHEOAT.— LESSEE WHITETHEOAT. 71 



having the breast almost pink. After the breeding-season 

 it becomes much duller, assuming a somewhat faded ap- 

 pearance. It frequents hedgerows and plantations, where it 

 may often be heard and seen, as it has a habit of rising 

 suddenly a foot or two above the top of a hedge, singing 

 loudly, jerking its tail, flitting about for a moment, and then 

 disappearing again into its thickest parts. 



It feeds on insects, though, from its great partiality to the 

 rows of pea-sticks in the kitchen garden, it is generally 

 accused of doing great injury to the crop, and devouring 

 great quantities of peas, whereas it is engaged in the search 

 of aphides and caterpillars; It does, however, take a fair 

 share of currants, and delights in raspberries. It generally 

 nests in the roughest brambles near the ground, and from 

 its being partial to thick beds of nettles, it has obtained the 

 name of Nettlecreeper. The Whitethroat composes its nest 

 of dead grass, and is specially fond of using the stalks of the 

 common white Galium, generally known as lady's bedstraw, 

 lining it very slightly with horsehair. 



LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



Sylvia curruca. 



In the Weald this is less abundant than the former species, 

 though all along the coast it even exceeds it in numbers. 



It arrives about the middle of April, and usually remains 

 with us till the end of September, feeding on insects and 

 various berries, particularly those of the ivy, the elder, and 

 the privet. It is not so noisy as the preceding, its notes, 

 though abundant, being pitched in a lower key. If any one 

 approaches it when it has young- both parents show the 



