9 
SYLVIA atricapilla. 
The Black-Cap . 
S. atricapilla. Crown black ; of the female chesnut, body 
above grey greenish brown ; of the female inclining to olive, 
beneath cinereous. Turt. Brit. Faun. v. 1 . p. 44. 
Bill brown. Iris dark hazel. Cheeks and neck greyish 
brown. Chin whitish. Quill and tail-feathers dusky, with 
a greenish brown margin. Belly whitish. Leys lead 
colour. 
Length six inches ; extent ten ; weight about half an ounce. 
Turt. loc. cit. 
One of the finest songsters that visits the British 
islands, the Nightingale excepted. It generally visits 
us the end of March, or the beginning of April ; the 
earliest that I ever observed, was the 25th of March ; 
the same day I saw, for the first time that season, 
a Redstart , a Swallow , and a Snake. I have some- 
times known a solitary male bird of this species 
arrive, and sing every day for a fortnight, before any 
other was to be seen ; I have also seen one as late as 
the 15th of October. 
The song of the Black-Cap is very loud and agree- 
able, and it has a great variety of notes ; it is also a 
real mock-bird, and will .catch the note of any bird 
that it chances to hear sing ; I have heard it imitate 
the Nightingale so exactly, that it has deceived me ; 
also the Blackbird, Thrush, and the Greater Petti- 
chaps, all of which it imitates so much in its voice, 
