THE LESSER WHITETHROAT. 

 Sylvia curruca (Linnaeus). 

 Plate 5. 



The Lesser Whitethroat may be distinguished from the preceding species by 

 its slightly smaller size, dark ear-coverts, general greyer colour of those parts 

 which are rufous in the other, and by having the feet and legs slaty-grey instead 

 of brown. 



Less abundant than the Greater Whitethroat, it confines itself more to the 

 midland and southern parts of England, becoming rarer in the west and in 

 Scotland. 



On the Continent the breeding range of the Lesser Whitethroat extends from 

 Norway to the Alediterranean, and eastwards to the Ural. It winters in Africa. 



The nest is placed in some thick cover, and is made of dry bents and grasses, 

 with a lining of hair. The four or five eggs are greenish-white, spotted and 

 blotched with brown. 



The song of this bird is superior to that of the Common Whitethroat, and its 

 habits are more shy and retiring. 



The food of both species is the same. 



The colour of the female is rather duller than that of the male. 



28 



