96 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



instincts. Had the day been raw, with an easterly wind, the 

 Whitethroats would probably have been contented to sing in 

 cover. 



LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



Sylvia curruca (L. ). 



Though aware that this warbler visited the neighbourhood of 

 Kendal, Dr. Gough catalogued the species as ' not a common 

 one.' I have rarely met with it in Lakeland. The first pair 

 that I identified near Carlisle were seen at Rose Hill ; curiously 

 enough, a bird killed there by James Barnes appears to have 

 been the only one noticed by T. C. Heysham. He remarks in 

 a private note : ' Mr. Barnes of Botcherby this day showed me 

 a specimen of this bird which he had shot near Rose Hill, when 

 singing on the 11th of May 1849.' Mr. W. Duckworth con- 

 siders the Lesser Whitethroat to be almost exclusively a passing 

 spring migrant to Lakeland, and this view is probably the right 

 one. At the same time it should be understood that the species 

 continues to nest in one or two favourite localities, near Keswick 

 for instance, and at Kendal. Mr. H. E. Rawson assures me that 

 he finds several nests of this species every summer at "Winder- 

 mere. Another brother Ibis, Mr. E. W. Holdsworth, volunteers 

 that he has searched for it near Oxenholme for several seasons 

 without even hearing its familiar song. 



BLACKCAP. 



Sylvia atricapilla (L.). 



Upon its first arrival, in the month of April, the male 

 Blackcap flits demurely about the shrubberies and elder- trees ; 

 but, after a short rest, this warbler breaks forth into the rich 

 song which is heard pianissimo even in July. Nowhere in 

 Lakeland can the Blackcap be accurately termed a very numerous 

 bird. Yet every recurring season finds it re-established in its 

 favourite haunts. The cock-bird appears to share the duties of 

 incubation. In May 1891 Mr. F. P. Johnson found a bird in 

 full male plumage, lying dead upon a nest containing five eggs, 



