40 HISTORY OF THE 



rowly watched the proceedings of these birds^ 

 many of which breed annually under the eaves 

 of a large barn situated near his house in the 

 chapelry of Blakeley, the result of his investi- 

 gation, he informed me, was, the complete con- 

 firmation of my supposition by the most une- 

 quivocal proof, namely, that obtained directly 

 from personal observation of the fact; and he 

 did not doubt, he remarked, that dead nestlings 

 might then be procured in abundance, if I would 

 take the trouble to have the nests at the barn 

 examined. This suggestion was acted upon 

 without delay : repairing directly to the place, a 

 ladder was quickly provided, and fourteen nests 

 underwent a careful inspection ; of these, five 

 were found to contain dead nesthngs of various 

 sizes, specimens of which will be laid before 

 the society,* and from another, two eggs were 

 taken, whose contents very evidently shewed that 

 they had been forsaken when on the point of 

 being hatched. The nestlings collected on this 

 occasion did not, it is true, exceed ten, which 

 may be thought few when compared with the 

 number of nests they occupied ; but the second 



♦ The extremely flattened appearance of some of these youn» 

 birds, especially the smaller ones, which I was quite unable to 

 account for, greatly excited my attention. I soon learned, how- 

 ever, that it was occasioned by the pressure of the sparrows which 

 every night took up their lodgings in the nests. 



