The LESSER WHITETHROAT (_Curruca garrula_) does not exceed five inches
and one-third in length, and eight in breadth; the wing measures two
inches and a half, and the tail two inches and a quarter. In this
species the top of the head is grey, and the back brownish grey; the
wing-feathers are of a still deeper grey, edged with a pale shade; the
entire under side is white, tinted with yellowish red on the sides of
the breast; the cheek-stripes are dark grey; the exterior tail-feathers
white; the rest being only surrounded with a white border. The eyes are
brown, the beak dark grey, and the legs bluish grey.
This Whitethroat inhabits the whole of Central Europe, usually appearing
in England about April; and, according to Jerdon, is met with throughout
India and in many parts of Central Asia, during the course of its winter
migrations. Woods, gardens, and orchards are its favourite resorts,
and these it boldly visits, not merely in the neighbourhood of human
habitations, but in the very centre of towns and villages.
"The food of this species," as Mr. Yarrell informs us, "is very similar
to that sought for by the Common Whitethroat--namely, insects in their
various states, the smaller fruits of many different sorts, for which it
visits the gardens, and, later in the season, it feeds on the berries of
the elder and some others. It is not, however, so easy to preserve this
bird in health during confinement as the Common Whitethroat."
Colonel Sykes obtained examples in the Deccan which only differed from
the English specimens in having a reddish tint on the white of the under
surface, but Mr. Blyth mentions that he has seen this tint on specimens
obtained in this country, and Mr. Yarrell quotes part of a letter
received from the Rev. W. E. Cornish, of Totnes, which says, "I have
reared the Lesser Whitethroat, two males and a female; the males had a
beautiful tinge of carmine on the breast."
Mr. Hepburn, who was the first to discover this species in East Lothian,
has furnished the following notice respecting it:--"On the 7th of
May, 1838, I first heard the song of the Lesser Whitethroat (_Sylvia
curruca_). In its habits it is shy and retiring; it loves to frequent
copses and gardens. When you approach its haunts it conceals itself in
the thickest shade, where it utters its alarm-note, distending its throat
a little. One day in July, when lying in wait for Wood Pigeons in a ditch
beneath the shade of some hedgerow trees, I observed one sporting amongst
the hawthorn twigs. He once sprung into the air, caught an insect,
and then began to sing in a very low voice, ending in a very shrill,
tremulous cry. House Sparrows, Hedge Chanters, Chaffinches, Wagtails,
Willow Wrens, Wood Wrens, White Throats, dart into the air in the very
same way. The little fellow ceased his song when he observed me, and
sought the middle of the hedge, where he remained till I left my place. I
teased him thus for about twenty minutes. He had young ones at the time.
It was about the beginning of July that I observed that both the Greater
and Lesser Whitethroats made excursions into fields of growing wheat
and beans. In the former case they settle on the stalk near to the ear,
which they diligently examine. The Wheat Fly (_Cecidomyia tritici_) at
this season deposits its eggs between the glumes of the corn, and we may
reasonably suppose that the Whitethroats devour this destructive insect,
in doing which they must confer a great benefit on the farmer, as far
as their influence extends. After this I shall never grudge them a few
currants. But this is not all; for, besides destroying vast numbers of
other insects which feed on the honey contained in the nectary of the
bean, I have seen their little mouths filled with the black or collier
aphides, which often commit much damage by adhering to the top of the
field bean and sucking its juice, so that sometimes fruit, leaves, and
stem perish. It prefers the red currant to all other fruits. It departs
about the 8th or 10th of September."
"The louder notes of this bird," says Mr. Yarrell, "have nothing
particular in their tone to recommend them; but if approached with
sufficient caution to prevent alarm, or when kept in confinement, they
may be heard to utter a low, soft, and pleasing whistle, which is almost
incessant; so much so as to have induced the application of the epithets
of _garrula_ and _babillard_, as terms of specific distinction. The nest
is usually placed upon a thick bush near the ground, and resembles that
made by other members of the family. The eggs are from four to six in
number, round, and pure white or bluish green, marked with violet-grey
or yellowish-brown spots, most thickly strewn over the broad end. Both
parents assist in the process of incubation, and tend and protect their
young with the utmost care and assiduity; but, like the species already
described, will often, if disturbed when brooding, desert not merely
their nest, but the eggs contained therein. We have frequently remarked
that the same self-sacrificing devotion exhibited by this species to
its own nestlings is also displayed towards the young Cuckoos that are
sometimes reared involuntarily as inmates of the little family."