Bird Life in the 
“ Stripe.” 
(187) THE BIRD WORLD. 
The Haunt of the Whitethroat. 
The “ Stripe ” also became the 
favourite haunt of the Whitethroat, 
several pairs were sure to make their 
appearance every spring, and it was a 
pleasure to watch them perform their 
jerky flights in the air when bubbling 
over in the fullness of song. I always 
thought that they sung their best when 
the sun shone its brightest and warmest. 
Of all the migrants that frequented the 
wood the Whitethroats nest was the first 
1 discovered. When it commenced to 
sing, it began to build, and suspended 
betwixt the wild raspberry canes was a 
sure place to seek and find it. Early in 
April, when specks of green were be¬ 
ginning to show along the wasty 
branches of the larch ; I looked for¬ 
ward for the appearance of my favourite 
Warbler, the Willow Bird, his song in 
all kinds of weather was a feature of the 
“ Stripe ” as he hunted all day in the 
needles of the pines, or searched the 
underside of the leaves that grew pro¬ 
fusely on the twigs that sprouted from 
the old oak and elm stumps. I often 
found the nest on the ground, where the 
branches of the bramble trailed over. 
The Sedge Warbler, when the trees 
were young, passing by tarried, and 
built its nest for a good many 
summers. A little cup-shaped nest of 
moss and hair, not unlike the nest of the 
Hedge Sparrow, and often found placed 
in similar situations, the centre of an 
evergreen spruce, the branches of which 
are thick and lie closely together. I 
always found a good place to find 
many a different bird’s nest therein. 
Cause for Wonder. 
In those days I used to wonder at 
the difference between the Whitethroat 
and this mimicking bird. Both warblers 
arriving nearly at the same period of 
the year, and here nesting under nearly 
the same conditions, yet one constructed 
a nest thick and warm free from 
draughts as if to keep eggs and young 
warm and comfortable, while the other 
made a thin and flimsy affair do duty 
for a nest where the young got free 
ventilation, in fact, he guaranteed that 
the eggs and young would remain nice 
and cool. Walking through the 
“ Stripe ” the Sedge Warbler was sure 
to object to your presence, scolding 
away, but always keeping a bush be¬ 
tween it and danger, and if forced to 
leave its friendly shelter, flew speedily 
across the glade, disappearing in the 
heart of some other bushes. A rollick¬ 
ing little songster, a whole bird 
orchestra in itself, it could imitate nearly 
all the birds of the woodland; and in 
the height of midsummer commenced 
singing in the morning with the Thrush, 
sung all day with the Willow Wren, and 
well on in the evening with the Grass¬ 
hopper Warbler. This shy bird oc¬ 
casionally nested in the old wood, but 
now two pairs came regularly every 
summer for many a year, you could 
depend upon hearing them “ reeling ” 
or singing in the last days of April, or 
in the early days of May. 
(To he continued .) 
