Warblers. 1 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



315 



It is only prior to the work of incubation, and the 

 labours of rearing the young brood, that the notes 

 of the nightingale are poured forth in their fullest 

 melody; and at the latter end of the season, before 

 leaving our shores, the voice of song is exchanged 

 for a hoarse kind of croak. 



The nightingale breeds in the thickest coverts, 

 and so artfully constructed and so well concealed is 

 the nest, that it is not to be discovered without great 

 difficulty. It is generally placed low in a thick 

 bush, or on the ground amongst intertangled stems. 

 The outside is composed of withered leaves, or 

 grass, or of the skeleton leaves which accumulate 

 under hedges and thickets ; internally it is lined 

 with fine fibres of roots and hair. The eggs are 

 five in number, and of an olive-brown. The young 

 are fed with soft caterpillars, which, with insects 

 and berries, constitute the diet of the adults. 



The nightingale measures about seven inches in 

 length : its general plumage above is of a rich 

 brown, the lower part of the back and tail having a 

 reddish tinge: the under parts are ash-colour. 

 Closely allied to the nightingale are three species 

 peculiar to the Continent : the Curruca Philomela 

 (Philomela Turdoides, Blyth) ; C. Sericea; and C. 

 Orphea. (See Gould; and Temminck's 'Manuel 

 d'Ornithologie.') The song of the first is loud, but far 

 inferior to that of the nightingale. 



1414 (b), 1417, 1418.— The Black-cap 

 {Curruca atricapilla). This species, scarcely in- 

 ferior to the nightingale in its musical powers, ar- 

 rives in our island about the middle of April, and 

 leaves at the end of September. It is the Fauvette 

 a. tete noire of the French ; der Monch of the Ger- 

 mans ; the Caponera gentile, or, from its fondness 

 for ivy-berries, Caponera d'edera of the Italians, 

 who class it under the birds called Becafico, so 

 prized for the table. The black-cap is very shy and 

 retired, concealing itself amidst the foliage of trees, 

 while it pours forth at intervals its varied flute-like 

 tones, which, like the nightingale, it continues " when 

 eventide is ended." Not only has it its own pecu- 

 liar strain, but it has also the power of imitating 

 the voices of various other birds, and so admirably 

 as to deceive the listener. 



"When the black-cap," says Mr. Sweet, "first 

 arrives in this country, its chief food is the early 

 ripened berries of the ivy, and where those are, 

 there the black-caps are first to be heard sing- 

 ing their melodious and varied song. By the time 

 the ivy-berries are over, the little green larvee of the 

 small moths will be getting plentiful, rolled up in 

 the young shoots and leaves; then is this their chief 

 food until the strawberries and cherries become ripe : 

 after that there is no want of fruit or berries till 

 their return, and there is no sort of fruit or berry 

 that is eatable or wholesome that they will refuse. 

 After they have cleared the elder-berries in autumn, 

 they immediately leave us." 



Woods, thickets, and orchards are the favourite 

 haunts of this species ; and there, among dense 

 bushes and brambles, it builds its nest, which is com- 

 posed of dried stalks of goose-grass, a little moss or 

 wool, and lined with fibrous roots and a few hairs. 

 The eggs are five in number, of a reddish brown, 

 with spots of a darker tint, intermixed with others of 

 an ashy grey. Fig. 1419 represents the egg of the 

 present bird. The male black-cap measures nearly 

 six inches in length ; crown and occiput black ; neck 

 and breast grey. Upper parts grey tinged with oil- 

 green : under parts ashy grey. In the female, which 

 exceeds the male in size, the crown of the head is 

 umber brown ; and the general tints of the plumage 

 are darker and more decidedly washed with green. 



The black-cap is widely dispersed as a summer 

 visitant through the northern parts of Europe, ex- 

 tending as high as Lapland. Temminck says that 

 it is rare beyond the Apennines and Pyrenees. In 

 Madeira it is a common and a permanent resident, 

 as it is also in the environs of Rome, and southern 

 Italy. The Sylvia melanocephala, Latham, a native 

 of the South of Spain, and the S. sarda of Marmora, 

 are allied but distinct species. 



1420. — The Greater Pettichaps, or Garden 

 Warbler 



(Curruca hortensis). This bird is the Beccafieo, or 

 Fig-eater of the Italians ; the Becfigue of the French ; 

 Ficedula of the Latins ; Su/caXis- of the Greeks ; but 

 this name Fig-eater, as is well observed by Prince 

 C. L. Bonaparte, in his 'Specchio Comparativo,' is 

 applied to different kinds of Sylvan Warblers, when- 

 ever they are fat and in a good state for the table. 

 These are generally fruit-eaters in the season. The 

 true Beccafieo, however, with its " carne squisita," 

 is, according to the Prince, this species, the Sylvia 

 (Curruca) hortensis. 



This bird, which in many districts is far from 

 being rare, was first described as a British species 

 by Latham : it arrives in April and departs early in 

 September ; and, according to Selby, extends its 

 range not only throughout most parts of England, 



but the greater part of Scotland, particularly where 

 lakes and rivers are bordered by wooded extent of 

 country. It is abundant over the south of Europe. 

 The Greater Pettichaps is little inferior to the night- 

 ingale in song, and sometimes utters its varied notes 

 after sunset. Some of the notes are peculiarly 

 mellow, and closely approach those of the black- 

 bird, while others are quick, shrill, and lively. During 

 the performance of its strain the bird is seldom seen, 

 for, like the rest of its tribe, it is shy and recluse, 

 lurking in the shadiest coverts, amidst the foliage 

 of some close thicket ; but sometimes may be ob- 

 served warbling from the upper light branches of a 

 tree. Lewin says that it makes its nest for the 

 most part with fibres and wool, sometimes with the 

 addition of green moss, often in the neighbourhood 

 of gardens, which it frequents, with the white-throat 

 and black-cap, for the sake of currants and other 

 fruits. Montagu, who has recorded this habit, 

 which we can personally verify, states also that it 

 inhabits thick hedges, where it makes a nest near 

 the ground, composed of goose-grass (Galium Apa- 

 rine, Linn.) and other fibrous plants, flitnsily put to- 

 gether, like that of the common white-throat, with 

 the addition sometimes of a little green moss exter- 

 nally. Selby gives much the same description. It 

 lays four, sometimes five eggs, about the size of a 

 hedge-sparrow's or hedge-warbler's, of a dirty white, 

 blotched with light brown (Selby says wood-brown), 

 the blotches being most numerous at the larger end. 

 Its alarm-call, according to Selby, is very 'similar to 

 -that of the white-throat; and C. Bonaparte notes it 

 as common near Rome in the autumn. 



Total length, about, six inches. 



The whole of the upper parts oil-green, with a 

 shade of ash-grey. On each side of the lower part 

 of the neck is a'patch of ash-grey. Breast and flanks 

 yellowish grey, inclining to wood-brown. Throat 

 and under parts greyish white. Orbits of the eyes 

 white; hides brown; bill wood-brown. Legs and 

 claws bluish grey. 



The female is similar in plumage to the male 

 bird. 



1414 (/).— The White-Throat 



(Curruca cinerea~). Fauvette grise, or Grisette, of the 

 French ; Fahle Grasmiicke of Bechstein. 



This, like the two former species, is a migratory 

 bird, visiting our island and the middle and northern 

 districts of the European continent during the sum- 

 mer. It frequents tall hedgerows and copses, and 

 possesses a pleasing but hurried and feeble song, 

 which it frequently utters upon the wing as it sud- 

 denly rises from the spray upon which it had been 

 perched, to a considerable height in the air, and 

 then slowly descends to the same spot whence it had 

 taken its departure. In executing this movement 

 its flight is peculiarly quivering, and cannot have 

 been unobserved by those who are accustomed to 

 observe the habits of birds in a state of nature. 



Besides insects and their larvae, the white-throat 

 feeds on currants, and other garden fruit which 

 ripens during the summer. 



The nest of this speciesis built among brushwood, 

 nettles, or brambles, and is composed of the withered 

 stems of goose-grass intermixed with hair. The 

 eggs are five in number ; of a greyish white speckled 

 with wood- brown and grey. 



The white-throat is about five inches and a half 

 in length : the general colour above is brown ; the 

 top of the head being tinged with soot-black. The 

 quill-feathers and coverts are blackish brown mar- 

 gined with light reddish brown ; the flanks and 

 chest are ash-grey tinged with red. ; the throat and 

 middle of the abdomen are white. An allied, but 

 smaller and darker coloured species, the Lesser 

 White-throat (Curruca garrula), is not uncommon 

 in some districts (we have seen it round London, 

 and have specimens killed in the fields about Ham- 

 mersmith) ; but from its extremely recluse habits, 

 tenanting the thickest hedges, it escapes ordinary 

 observation. 



1421. — The Whinchat 



(Saxicola Rubetra). Grand Traquet, Traquet, 

 Groulard, Tarier, Thyon, Semel (in Lorraine), of the 

 French; Grosser Fliegenfanger, Gestettenschlager, 

 and Braunkchliger-Steinsmatzer of the Germans ;_ 

 Salta-bastone con la gola bianca and Stiaccino of 

 the Italians: Furze-chat, provincial English; and 

 Clocher yr eithin of the antient British. This bird 

 is dispersed during summer throughout Europe, 

 from the Mediterranean to Norway, Sweden, and 

 temperate Russia ; it passes the winter in Northern 

 Africa, and has been observed during that season in 

 Smyrna. It arrives in our island in April, and de- 

 parts at the latter end of autumn. Commons, wide 

 open fields, and heaths are its favourite places of 

 residence. In some counties it is very abundant, 

 and its well-known cry, u-tick, u-tick, may be heard 

 as the bird flits from bush to bush, perching on the 

 topmost twigs. It utters this cry with a singular 

 jerk of the tail, repeating the last syllable two or 



three times in succession, and immediately flits off 

 to the next bush, repeating its cry as before. Small 

 shelled snails, slugs, and coleopterous insects con- 

 stitute its food, and we have seen it take insects on 

 the wing, darting at them from its perch, and pass- 

 ing onwards after seizing them. The nest is 

 usually placed under the shelter of furze or brush- 

 wood on the ground, and is formed of dry stalks of 

 grass lined with finer bents and fibres ; the eggs are 

 five in number, of a bluish green with a few small 

 reddish brown specks. The song of this active 

 sprightly bird is a trifling but not unpleasant warble, 

 and is sometimes uttered late in the evening. Mr. 

 Sweet states that when caught young it may be 

 taught any tune, and will learn the song of any bird 

 it hears. 



The whole of the upper surface of the male 

 whinchat is of a yellowish brown, each feather hav- 

 ing a central dash of brownish black ; a large spot 

 of white occupies the centre of each wing. A broad 

 stripe of white passes above the eyes, while the 

 cheeks and ear-coverts are black. The throat, the 

 sides of the neck, and the basal half of all the tail- 

 feathers, except the two middle, are also white, the 

 rest of the tail being black; the chest is fine light 

 rufous. The female, our upper figure, wants the 

 black on the cheeks and the white on the wing; 

 and the general colours of the plumage are much 

 less distinct and pure. 



1422.— The Wheat-ear 

 (Saxicola (Enanthe). Moteux, Vitrec, and Cul-blanc 

 of the French ; Codo bianco, Fornarola, Petragnola, 

 Culbianco, and Codetta d'eslate of the Italians ; 

 Steinschwatzer, Steinschnapperl, Grauriickiger, 

 Steinschmatzer, and Weissehwanz of the Germans ; 

 Tapuit of the Netherlanders ; Stenguetta of the 

 Swedes ; Steendolf, Steensguette, and Steengylpe 

 of the Norwegians; Fallow-finch, Fallow-chat, 

 White-tail, Stone-chacker, &c, provincial English ; 

 Tinwyn y cerrig of the antient British. 



The wheat-ear is a bird of passage, widely spread 

 during the spring and summer over the whole of 

 Europe, from the shores of the Mediterranean to 

 Lapland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. Every- 

 where it resorts to wide open downs, sheep-pastures, 

 and commons, scattering in pairs over the country, 

 for the purpose of breeding, and collecting in vast 

 flocks during the autumn, which gradually migrate 

 southwards. In our island it makes its appearance 

 early in March, and the numerous specimens which 

 we have seen killed during that month around 

 London had their stomachs filled with the frag- 

 ments of coleopterous insects, and were so loaded 

 with fat, that in many instances the plumage was 

 spoiled by its oozing from the perforations made by 

 the shot. 



The wheat-ear trips along over the grass with 

 great alertness, and its flight, which is low, is 

 smooth and rapid : the male has a soft sweet 

 warble, which is often uttered while on the wing. 

 According to Mr. Sweet, the wheat-ear confined in 

 an aviary sings by night as well as by day, and in 

 winter as w r ell as through the summer months, the 

 notes being at that season the most varied. 



The nest of this species is composed of dried 

 roots, grasses, feathers, and fur, and is concealed 

 with great care, so as not to be easily detected ; it 

 is sometimes placed under the shelter of a turf or 

 stone, among the fissures of old walls or stone- 

 quarries, in the deep crevices of rocks, or in deserted 

 rabbit-burrows. The eggs, five or six in number, 

 are of a pure bluish green. On visiting the down 

 and open lands of Kent and Sussex in the months 

 of August and September, we cannot fail to observe 

 the vast numbers of these birds which are drawn 

 thither and collected from all the more northern 

 districts of our island, previously to their departure ; 

 day after day brings a fresh influx. At this season 

 multitudes are caught for the table, their flesh 

 being esteemed a great delicacy. 



In the male the top of the head and the upper 

 part of the back are of a fine grey, a white line 

 passes from the beak above the eye, succeeded by a 

 black band which surrounds the eye, and spreads 

 over the ear-coverts. The lower part of the back 

 and basal half of the tail-feathers (the two middle 

 excepted) are white, the rest black. The wings 

 are black ; the chest is of a delicate fawn colour 

 fading into white. The female wants the white 

 superciliary stripe, and the black band is exchanged 

 for one of a dull brown : the general plumage is 

 less pure and bright ; the wings are brownish ; and 

 the chest reddish passing into white below. The 

 lower figure represents the male. 



1423. — The Mountain Short-wing 

 (Brachypteryx montana). This bird, the Kelck of 

 the Javanese, the Mountaineer Warbler of Latham, 

 is in many points allied to the Saxicola?. It is a 

 native of Java. 



Dr. Horsfield met with this species in one situa 

 tion only, viz., Mount Prahu, at an elevation of 



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