512 Mr. Rennie on the Contrivances 



in a dry chalky field, far from water, artificially formed of 

 grass and leaves, and containing above a gallon of potatoes 

 regularly stowed ; but whether this is done by its congeners 

 remains to be discovered. 



The retreat of the dormouse (Myoxis avellanarius, FLE- 

 MING) is better known. These little creatures provide a store 

 of nuts and grain, and retire to holes at the bottom of hedges 

 and trees, where they commonly lie torpid in cold weather, 

 but in mild winters remain awake and feed on their stores, in 

 the same manner as the squirrel. In the winter I have found 

 great numbers of their nests, about four or five feet from the 

 ground, in hedges and hazel copses, and 1 imagined it possible 

 that some individuals might winter there almost as snugly as 

 under ground ; for.they are constructed with a great quantity 

 of dry grass leaves, well wound together, with no perceptible 

 opening ; but among at least fifty of those which I have 

 examined, I found no inhabitants, and, therefore, conclude 

 that they are only built to protect the young during our colder 

 summer nights, and placed high in the bushes, to be somewhat 

 out of the reach of cats and weasels. 



Having recently had occasion to investigate the structure of 

 various nests with some minuteness, I have been led to adopt 

 the opinion, that the arched coping or dome, so remarkable 

 in several small birds for ingenious and beautiful workmanship, 

 is designed to preserve their animal heat from being dissi- 

 pated during the process of incubation an opinion which 

 appears corroborated by our native birds that thus cover in 

 their nests at top being all very small. Among these are the 

 common wren, the wood wren (Sylvia sibilatrix, BECHSTEIN), 

 the hay bird (S. trochilus), the chiff-chaff ($. hipola'is), the 

 gold-crested wren, the bottle-tit (Parus caudatus, RAY), and 

 the dipper (Cinclus aquaticus, BECHSTEIN). There are other 

 birds, no doubt, a little larger than these, such as the black- 

 cap and the babillard (Curruca garrula, BRISSON), which do 

 not build domed nests ; but it is worthy of remark that the 

 latter usually lay much fewer eggs, the babillard seldom more 

 than four, and the blackcap four or five; while the gold- 

 crested wren lays from seven to ten, the bottle-tit from nine to 

 twelve, and common wren from eight to (some say) fourteen 



