WHITETHllOAT. 409 



and raspberries ; and in tlie woods it will eat the various wild fruits and 

 the softer berries. The Whitethroat may be very often flushed from the 

 corn-fields early in August^ where it feeds on the insects found on tlie 

 grain ; and Dixon states that he has shot them in the act of eating the 

 soft milky corn. lie also says that the bird sometimes clings to the 

 trunks of trees like a Creeper. 



In the moulting-seasonj which begins in July and lasts until the end of 

 August, the "Whitethroat becomes a very shy and retiring bird, and is 

 also much less garrulous, so much so as to lead to the supposition that the 

 birds have departed. The Whitethroat leaves its northern haunts during 

 the latter end of September or the first week in October; but it has been 

 met with as late as the end of the latter month. It is exceedingly pro- 

 bable that these birds perform their migrations in the night; for they may 

 be seen quite common one day, and their favourite haunts may be found 

 deserted the next. 



The adult male Whitethroat in spring plumage has the general colour 

 of the upper parts greyish brown, darkest on the wings and tail, and 

 shading into ash-grey on the head and upper tail-coverts; the wing-coverts 

 and innermost secondaries are broadly edged with pale chestnut ; and the 

 outside tail-feathers are paler than the rest, and broadly edged with white. 

 The underparts are white, purest on the throat and belly, with a vinous 

 tinge on the breast, and shading into buff on the flanks. The axillaries 

 and under wing-coverts are pale grey, the latter frequently with darker 

 centres. Bill dark brown, the lower mandible paler ; legs, feet, and claws 

 pale brown ; irides light hazel. The female has the greyish brown of the 

 back extending to the head and upper tail-eoverts ; and the vinous tinge 

 on the breast is absent. After the autumn moult the male assumes the 

 colour of the female. Birds of the year have the colour of the upper parts 

 still less grey, almost dull chestnut-brown. 



I am indebted to Mr. Baker, of Sheffield, for a very curious example 

 of this bird with a small but very distinct claw on the shoulder. A mon- 

 strosity of a similar kind has occurred in the Blackbird, and was described 

 by Bonaparte as a new species under the name of Merida dadyloptera. A 

 similar claw is normally developed on the shoulders of some birds — for 

 example the Spur-winged Plover {Charadrius spinosus), and many of the 

 Jacanas {Parrince) . 



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