Winter Warblers
A controversy, of which signs :have appeared in many places, has been stirred by the announcement that the black- cap, a characteristic migrant, has wintered in South England. Those who disbelieve in the observation argue that both the cole-tit and the march-tit (which have been encouraged by garden nuts and fat) have black heads and are easily mistaken by the less scientific observer. This, of course, is true. A friend of mine, who was visiting Cyprus, excited local ornitho- logists by reporting that he had seen a black-cap. An imme- diate investigation proved it to be a tole-tit. Such a mistake has often been made, and some of the black-caps seen this winter were possibly tits. Nevertheless, two observations at any rate from Sussex scarcely admit of question. In one case the bird was caught by a well-known aviculturist, and in the other the bird was, I understand, watched at close quarters, again and again, by capable ornithologists, who had no doubts at all. There is no inherent unlikeliness in such an event. It may be commoner than we think. How large a proportion of the black-caps that we are aware of in summer betray themselves only by song or nest.
Previous page
