

^--^r-.T^St^- 



THE COMMON WHITETHROAT. 



[Sylvia cinerea.) 



1 .^AR from leading a retired life like the last- 

 -*- named bird, the Whitethroat forces itself 

 into notice by its noisy chattering and repeated 

 sallies into the air. We cannot walk along a 

 country lane in May without being reminded 

 at every twenty yards of the presence of this 

 demonstrative little bird. With crest-feathers 

 erect and half-extended wings, it bustles in and 

 out, gesticulating loudly, and seems to live in a 

 perpetual state of excitement. 



