HABITAT OF THE BLACKCAF. 
tliis is it : the belly-feathers of the lien are many shades lighter 
than those of the male bird. Bechstein and others recommend 
that a few feathers be pulled from the head of the young’ 
bird. If it is a cock, the new feathers will be black ; if a hen, 
rusty fed. In buying a bird of a dealer, however, this test 
seems almost impracticable, for it will seldom assort with a 
purchaser's convenience to take a seat till the new feathers 
sprout, nor with a birdseller’s temper to see his bird’s feathers 
plucked before his eyes. Besides, the trouble (to say nothing 
of the cruelty) is quite unnecessary, as the difference in the 
colour of the belly -feathers of the young birds will speedily 
settle the question of sex. Those of the hen bud are many 
shades lighter than those of the cock. 
Habitat of the Blackcap. — “ Amongst all the variety of 
birds,” says Jesse, “ there are few which give me so much 
pleasure as the blackcap. It sings in good earnest, and nothing 
can be sweeter than its melody. Its notes previously to the 
arrival of the female (for the male is the first to migrate) are 
very different from what they are after she has paired with 
him. Before that period, the male exerts all the power of his 
song as if to invite her to join him. This has been called the 
‘ love-laboured song.’ After the pairing has taken place, the 
male bird does not sing as before, nor is his voice heard so 
frequently or so loud. While the female is searching for a 
i place in which to build her nest, the notes of the male are 
peculiarly soft. When the young are hatched, his song 
entirely ceases, as, if it were continued, it might expose them 
to the danger of being discovered ; and, besides, his time is 
employed in procuring food for them.” Gilbert White, of 
Selborne celebrity, also speaks of the blackcap in highly 
flattering terms, and he says that in Norfolk it is known as 
the mock -nightingale. 
The blackcap is not a thorough-bred English bird. He 
leaves us in September, and during the winter months takes 
up his residence at Madeira and other snowless climes. He 
returns to us at the end of March, and immediately begins the 
process of nest-building and egg-laying. The nest is composed 
of stubble, grass, and leaves, and lined with hay and the hair 
of animals. It is a neat specimen of bird architecture, being 
in shape like a ball cut in two, and as smooth and compact as 
though turned in a lathe. The hen lays from four to six eggs, 
of a mottled yellow appearance, spotted sparingly with brown. 
The season to go nesting for the blackcap is during the first 
