WHITE THROAT. 
539 
of considerable thickness. A few long horse hairs are wound neatly 
round the interior, along with some finer grass. In several nests in my 
possession, however, the hairs are in quantity sufficient to cover the 
basket-work of grass from the eye, contrary to Latham’s opinion, that 
it is ‘‘not sufficient to form a covering.”^ Whence Mr. Bolton derived 
the notion that the White Throat uses spiders’ webs as a binding mate- 
rial, I cannot imagine ; for out of some hundreds I have examined, and 
twenty specimens now before me, I can detect nothing of this sort. It 
is the rough reflexed prickles of the catchweed which binds the exte- 
rior, and the hairs (probably glued with saliva) which keep the inside 
in shape. The chief distinction which I have detected in the nests of 
this species and of the babillard is, that the former for the most part 
makes use of a few roots in lining, which the latter never does, while 
it seems fonder than the former of working tufts of willow down into 
the brim of the nest. Latham has given a very bad figure of the 
babillard’s nest, the worse also, as it agrees not with his own descrip- 
tion.*^ The eggs are four or five in number, of a greenish white, 
speckled all over with light brown or ash-colour, in great variety as to 
shade and thickness of sprinkling ; weight about thirty grains. 
It is proper in this place to remark, that we have more than once 
killed a bird somewhat resembling the above ; weight and length the 
same ; irides not so yellow ; the whole upper parts rufous brown ; the 
coverts of the wings and quills next the body deeply margined with 
bright rufous ; throat and belly silvery white ; breast inclining to brown, 
darker on the sides ; outer feathers of the tail like the above. The 
common White Throat feeds on insects and berries, frequenting our 
gardens in the summer for the sake of cherries and currants. 
*“ A very lively and interesting species,” says Sweet, “ and one of 
the easiest preserved ; its song also, in my opinion, cannot be surpassed 
by any bird whatever ; it is both lively, sweet, and loud, and consists 
of a great variety of notes. One that I at present possess will sing for 
hours together against a nightingale, now in the beginning of January, 
and it will not suffer itself to be outdone. When the nightingale 
raises its voice, it does the same, and tries its utmost to get above it : 
sometimes, in the midst of its song, it will run up to the nightingale, 
and stretch out its neck, as if in defiance, and whistle as loud as it can, 
staring it in the face : if the nightingale attempts to peck it, away it is 
in an instant, flying round the aviary, and singing all the time. In a 
* Gen. Hist, of Birds, vii. 48. See our figure, p. 15. 
® Architecture of Birds. Chapter on Basket-making Birds, p. 232. 
