CHAPTER XXXYIII. 



THE BLACKCAP. 



Motacilla atricapilla, Lin. ; Fauvette a tete noir, Buf. 



Description and Character. — The Blackcap, or, as it is 

 frequently designated, the Mock Nightingale, owing to its 

 ability to imitate the song of that bird with remarkable 

 fidelity and astonishing exactness, is a distinguished and 

 highly-prized bird, not only on account of its fine singing, but 

 also because of its mild and gentle disposition, its sociability, and 

 the rea;dy manner with which it settles down to habits of 

 domestication — almost as cheerfully and confidingly as that 

 delightful bird, the Canary. It frequently becomes so tame, 

 after being domesticated, that it will readily take food from the 

 hand of the person who attends to its wants, and this confiding 

 disposition endears these birds to their fortunate possessors. 



A well-grown adult bird measures 5|^in. in length, the tail 

 being 2iin. The beak is straight, oval in form, thin and pointed, 

 and is bluish brown in colour. The irides are reddish brown. 

 On the top of the head is a velvety, black, elliptic cap, which 

 descends below the eyebrows, and runs far back towards the 

 neck. The upper parts of the body, and wing coverts, are 

 greenish ash-colour, shaded with grey ; the sides of the head, 

 and under parts of the body, are grey, the throat, lower part of 

 the belly, and vent, being almost white. The sides and thighs 

 are similar in colour to the back, but paler. The pen feathers 

 and tail are dark ferruginous brown, margined with the same 

 colour as that on the back. The two feathers in the centre of 

 the tail are rather shorter than the others. The legs and feet 



