THE BLACKCAP. 
him too much in his diet when he is unwell, or he will grow to 
dislike and sulk over his ordinary and proper food. 
CHAPTER III. 
THE BLACKCAP. 
It is no uncommon thing for the song of the blackcap to be 
spoken of as rivalling that of the nightingale. There are 
writers who even go the length of asserting, that between the 
melody of the two songsters it is next to impossible to distin- 
guish. In my opinion, however, this is giving the blackcap 
greater praise than is his due ; for although his song is melo- 
dious, varied, and particularly distinct, it does not possess, or 
nearly, the softness, the luscious ripeness, — full, fragrant, and 
teeming with sweetness like a well-hung nectarine, — that cha- 
racterises the nightingale’s song. Nevertheless, the blackcap 
is a splendid songster, and a bird to be desired. He is about 
the size of the chaffinch, and derives his name from the black 
cowl-like patch that extends from the base of his beak over to 
the nape of his neck. The prevailing colours of the bird’s 
plumage are olive-green and grey. About the throat the grey 
merges into dingy white. The tail is dark brown, margined 
with olive-green. 
The female differs from the male, inasinuch as she is larger, 
and, instead of the black hood, has a cap of rusty red. Besides 
this distinction, the belly of the hen blackcap is white, while 
that of the male bird does not become so till after his second 
moult. You will find many fanciers who will assert that the 
red-hooded bird is not a blackcap at all, but quite a distinct 
species. This, however, is .not the only blunder indulged in by 
the birdsellers. It must be admitted, however, that an igno- 
rant person might be deluded into the belief that the redhood 
was a cock -bird, by the sweet twittering she makes, — similar, 
indeed, to that made by the hen-canary. 
While on the subject of black poles and red poles, I may 
mention, that previous to the first moult the pates of both 
sexes are of the same colour, — a sort of brownish-grey, — so 
that there seems nothing left but to take the birdseller’s word as 
to the sex of the bird you are about to purchase. However, the 
blackcap buyer need not be so utterly at the birdseller’s mercy ; 
there is one way to tell the cock from the hen fledgling, and 
83 
