CHAPTEE XIII. 
THE BLACKCAP 
(Curruca atricapilla ). 
“ Schwarzplattclien wird nach. lmrzer Frist, 
So viel es nur vermag, 
Erlustigen die Horer all 
Mit lautem Trillerschlag.” 
Yogl. 
When, by the end of April, the feathered choristers 
have sought the fresh, green glades of wood and forest, 
there is one amongst them whose splendid song astonishes 
the hearer by its fulness, power, and variety. One would 
fancy at times that it must be the Nightingale who is 
performing, and vainly seek to discover the individual; 
if, however, the rich notes are carefully followed up, the 
songster may be found, one indeed of the best of the 
woodland warblers,—the Blackcap. He looks simple and 
modest enough in his sober suit of gray with a black cap, 
yet he carries in his little breast a treasure of melody. 
The end of each strophe is especially brilliant; it is 
a long-sustained trill, which a good songster, when 
thoroughly inspired, repeats three or four times in 
succession. This warbler, too, begins, as it were, to sing 
in earnest only when most other songsters have become 
all but silent. He is heard as late as July, while the 
