more common (Sylvia cinérea). Both species arrive in Great Britain at the same time, that is about the second week in April, to stay until the beginning of September. With us they nest in brambles and low hedgerows, and because of the fondness of nettle beds, schoolboys know it mostly as the “Nettle-creeper.” The male is a courageous little bird; he will often follow one along the side of his favourite hedgerow, flitting from branch to branch with the feathers on head and throat bluffed out and agitating his tail. We hear his song by night as well as by day.
The Lesser Whitethroat is 5·25 inches long. The crown is ashen-grey; cheeks darker, mantle grey-brown; back and breast white, merging into yellowish-red at the sides. The side feathers of the tail are wedge-shaped, the feathers near it having small indistinct spots. Beak small, awl-shaped; legs strong and bluish. The nest is generally found in whitethorn hedges and sloe-bushes, at about two and a half feet from the ground; in gardens the nest is placed higher. It is composed of fine grass and root fibre, interwoven and compacted with spider’s web, and lined with pig’s bristles and horse-hair. The bird lays five or six beautifully formed eggs, which are white or bluish with delicate speckles, which are thicker at the larger end of the egg, round which they form a ring.
USEFUL.
THE BLACKCAP.