HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE • GO SSIP. 



81 



THE HEDGE-SPARROW. 



{Accentor nodularis.) 



THE above-named little songster differs from 

 some others of the same genus (Sylviadce) 

 by remaining with us throughout the year. At 

 all seasons its pleasant and cheerful note may be 

 heard. Whether in the depths of winter or height 

 of summer, it is still to be found, hopping about 

 from twig to twig, and uttering its short but plain- 

 tive song. It is very commonly distributed over 

 our islands; frequenting the hedgerows and gar- 

 dens, feeding upon insects, worms, and various 

 kinds of seeds ; and in the winter season drawing 

 near to the dwellings of man, and there subsisting 

 largely upon his generosity. In its character it 



wandering bird's-nester. It is in the nest of the 

 uuobstrusive hedge-sparrow that the egg of the 

 cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is most frequently found. 

 The cuckoo and hedge-sparrows are there hatched 

 together ; the former, after several attempts, throws 

 out the other nestlings, in order to receive the full 

 supply of food, which the foster-parents are con- 

 tinually bringing to the nest. The hedge-sparrow 

 is very sombre in appearance : head, neck, and 

 throat, bluish grey ; back and wings reddish brown, 

 streaked with dark brown ; breast and belly dusky 

 white ; tail slighlty forked ; legs and toes orange- 

 brown, claws black. The female considerably re- 

 sembles the male in the colour of its plumage, with 

 the exception of its being a little more spotted on 

 the head and breast. C. Drxox. 



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Fig. 41. The Hedge-Sparrow (Accentor modularis). 



is unobtrusive and harmless, deserving more pro- 

 tection and support from man than it generally 

 receives. If you take a walk by the hedgerows in 

 the early part of summer, you will be sure to make 

 the acquaintance of the hedge-sparrow, then 

 employed in domestic duties ; and you may be 

 certain that its eggs, or unfledged nestlings, are not 

 far away. If you make a slight search, you will 

 perhaps be rewarded by the sight of its beautifully 

 compacted nest of twigs, moss, roots, and wool, 

 with a plentiful lining of hair. Within are deposited 

 its four or five eggs, of a deep bluish-green colour, 

 entirely devoid of markings. Almost every country 

 schoolboy can show you the eggs of the " Dunnoek " 

 (as it is often termed in the country), and it is 

 a wonder that the birds are so common, especially 

 when we consider the many accidents to which 

 they are subject through their tameness, the eggs 

 and young being so easily discovered by every 



THE ORIGIN OP THE GREENSAND. " 



" If Mr. Stewart's argument were that all greensands have 

 not yet been proved to have a foraminiferal origin, and con- 

 sequently that we should be cautious in taking for granted 

 that they have all been formed in the same way." * 



I HAVE chosen to head my remarks with an 

 extract from one of Mr. Brown's sentences, for 

 the simple reason that, if he consent to delete from 

 that text the words " have not yet been," and 

 insert in their stead the two words " cannot be," 

 if he consent to this reading, he and I are at one. 

 It is not desirable that valuable space should be 

 occupied with the reiteration of arguments that 

 have been misunderstood ; but it may be useful to 

 point out some of the errors into which Mr. Brown 

 has fallen, while penning his comments on my short 

 note on ,: The Greensand and its Origin." In the 



* A. J. Jukes Brown, Science-Gossip, No. 134, 



