THE BLACKCAP. 
159 
I can confusedly remember a very extraordinary cap- 
ture of these birds, when I was a boy. Roosting one 
winter evening on some very lofty elms, a fog came on 
during the night, which froze early in the morning, and 
fastened the feet of the poor kites so firmly to the 
boughs, that some adventurous youths brought down, I 
think, fifteen of them so secured ! Singular as the cap- 
ture was, the assemblage of so large a number was not 
less so, it being in general a solitary bird, or associating 
only in pairs. 
The blackcap (motacilla atracapilla) is our constant 
visitor, but very uncertain in its numbers, as it fully 
participates in all the casualties of our migratory tribes ; 
not by any great diminution probably in its winter resi- 
dence, but by loss in its transits of autumn or spring. 
We have years when every little copse resounds with 
harmony ; at other periods, only a few solitary song- 
sters are to be heard ; and the blackcap is the principal 
performer in the band of our domestic vocalists. In 
the scale of music it is the third for mellowness, and 
the third perhaps too for execution and compass. As 
this melody, however, continues only during the period 
of incubation, we hear it but for a short time ; for this 
bird wastes no time in amusements, appearing to be in 
great haste to accomplish the object of its visit, and to 
depart. Thus, immediately upon its arrival, we observe 
it surveying and inspecting places fitting for nidification, 
and commencing a nest ; but so careful and suspicious 
is it, that several are often abandoned before finished, 
from some apprehension or caprice : any intrusion is 
jealously noticed ; and during the whole period of sitting 
and rearing its young, it is timid and restless. I have 
observed that both birds will occasionally perform the 
office of incubation. 
It seems to live entirely by choice on fruits ; and as 
soon as the brood can remove, it visits our gardens, 
feeding with delight and almost insatiable appetite on 
the currant and the raspberry ; and so much is it en- 
gaged when at this banquet, that it suffers itself to be 
looked at, and forgets for the moment its usual timidity : 
but its natural shyness never leaves it entirely; and 
