106 WHITETHROAT. 
times not before the 10th. of May. The males come over 
about ten or twelve days before the females. They leave 
again about the end of September. One was noticed im 
Scotland by Mr. Weir on the 10th. of September. In Ireland 
they usually arrive the beginning of May, but sometimes 
earlier. Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, heard one near there on 
the 28rd. of April, 1842, and another was observed at Cromac 
on the 24th. of April, 1886; one near Carricfergus on the 
21st. of April. Its earliest arrival noted in the county of 
Wexford was the 1st. of May, and the latest the 21st. of 
August; but one was seen near Belfast on the 15th. of Sep- 
tember, 1837, and one was shot in December, 1843, at 
Raheny, near Dublin, by Mr. R. J. Montgomery. 
They are very lively and active in their habits, and somewhat, 
though not very, shy, skuttling away into their cover on any 
alarm: more than two are not seen together. They are easily 
kept in confinement, but are said to grow less and less familiar 
as they get older, even if reared from the nest. They delight 
to mob cats if they make their appearance, and keep up the 
note of alarm until they have retreated. Meyer mentions 
one which, no doubt to attract him from its nest, which was 
near, threw itself down the side of a bank, and then struggled 
and shuffled along, keeping itself just out of reach, until it 
finally flew away. 
Caterpillars, small beetles and other winged insects, and 
the smaller fruits and berries—currants, raspberries, goose- 
berries, elderberries, cherries, and other such, compose their 
food. The former as well as the latter are sought among 
shrubs, bushes, and plants, and also at times pursued in the 
air. Sand and other stony particles are found in considerable 
quantity in the gizzard, to aid the digestion of the food. 
The song of this species, which is heard immediately after 
its arrival, is quick and hurried: some of the notes, which 
are few, and therefore often repeated, are sweet and pleasing, 
though others are perhaps rather harsh. While singing lustily 
the throat is distended, the crest rather raised, which indeed 
is done at all times when the bird is excited, and the wings 
and the tail frequently shaken. Sometimes it sings in the 
air, hovering in an odd sort of flickering manner, occasionally 
poising itself, or even rising in a fitful fanciful way over 
and around the bush or tree from which it has arisen, and 
into which it again descends, or flitting to some neighbouring 
tree, from whence again it frequently returns; it also sings 
