BLACKCAP. 
105 
in adult birds the beak is tinged and tipped with dusky- 
horn. 
The Blackcap is described by Gilbert White as “a 
delicate songster.” “ Its note,” he says, “ possesses a wild 
sweetness, and when this bird sits calmly and engages in 
song in earnest, he pours forth very sweet but inward melody, 
and expresses great variety of soft and gentle modulations, 
superior, perhaps, to those of any of our warblers, the night¬ 
ingale excepted.” Its wild warbling song bears, in some 
of its upper notes, a resemblance to that of the redbreast, 
for which it is often no doubt mistaken; but it has less 
of shrillness and more of melodious depth and fulness. 
It far surpasses that bird in its lower tones, which are as 
round and full as the finest notes of the song thrush, and 
of surprising power when the small size of the delicate 
creature is considered. This bird is by no means shy in 
its habits, nor does it seem solicitous to conceal itself 
when singing, but openly sits on the branch of a fruit-tree 
in an orchard or cottage garden, and appears not at all 
disturbed by persons passing, but calmly looks around, pour¬ 
ing' forth from time to time its melodious song. 
The nest of the Blackcap is usually placed among bram¬ 
bles, nettles, or low underwood: it is a thin structure, 
composed of dry grass and stalks, and lined with a few 
hairs. Towards the end of April eggs of this species may 
be found; they vary in number from four to six, and 
although the colour and other particulars differ much in 
different specimens, they usually present a marked character 
by which they may be readily distinguished from all but 
the eggs of the garden warbler, to which they often bear 
a great resemblance. The ground colour is usually reddish- 
white, marbled with olive-brown and ash-grey, over which 
are strewed a few round dusky spots, each surrounded by 
