Wild Birds Useful and Injurious. 
61 
uttered on the wing during a sprightly and characteristic flight, 
soon makes it conspicuous. The nest, a slight structure, formed 
of bents with a lining of fine grasses or horsehair, is usually 
placed within two or three feet of the ground amongst brambles, 
nettles, or other tangled vegetation, and contains from four to 
six eggs, yellowish or greenish- white in ground colour, speckled 
with grey, light brown, and olive-green. The markings often 
form a zone round the larger end, and the eggs vary considerably, 
though there is not much difficulty in identifying them. It 
is pleasant to watch the fussy anxiety of the old bird, as it 
utters its scolding note when it thinks its offspring are in 
danger. 
The whitethroat feeds largely on insects, particularly cater- 
pillars, which it picks off the hedgerows, or collects in the 
woods which it frequents, and in this way renders good service. 
It also visits gardens for the sake of the ripe fruit, currants and 
raspberries presenting especial attractions. The latter it devours 
piecemeal, picking off the divisions of the fruit separately. 
Green peas are also laid under contribution, and the whitethroat, 
notwithstanding its slender bill, is able to open the pods for 
itself. In recompense, however, for this attack on garden 
produce it eats a quantity of destructive caterpillars, aphides, 
and other garden pests. A closely allied but less abundant 
species, the Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia cnrruca), which may 
be recognised by the dark patch on the side of the head, so 
nearly resembles the whitethroat in the nature of its food that 
it needs no further notice here. 
The Blackcap ( Sylvia air leap ilia), another summer visitor, is 
larger than the whitethroat, the males being about five inches 
and three quarters in length, and the females half an inch 
longer. It may be recognised (fig. 2) by the dark cap, which 
relieves its grey plumage, and which in the male is jet black 
and in the female reddish-brown. This species is often con- 
founded with the tits, to some of which the same name is 
applied. It is, however, a very different bird, and its actions 
bear no resemblance to the comical energy of the more sprightly 
titmice. Though essentially a summer visitor, the majority 
leaving this country in September, it has been observed on 
several occasions in winter. It is a rather shy bird, and usually 
shuns observation, but when there are young birds in the 
slightly-made nest the parents come close to any intruder and 
hop about in a peculiar shuffling manner. As is the case with 
many species, the male bird shares the task of incubation, his 
jet cap rendering this fact easy of observation. 
Its food consists of spiders, aphides, and many other insects, 
