214 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



WINTER BIRDS. In the last number of the " Field Naturalist," I 

 mentioned having seen sparrows carrying off feathers during frost, and 

 now beg to state a still more curious instance of unseasonable nestling, 

 which has just come to my knowledge. 



A gentleman residing in this city, so early as a fortnight after Christ- 

 mas, found at East Cliffe, in East Lothian, the nest of a hedge chanter 

 {Accentor modularis, Cuvier) with one egg in it, which he blew and 

 ascertained to be fresh. My authority is most respectable, and, were I 

 at liberty to give his name, would I am sure not be doubted. 



During a sudden fall of snow about ten days ago, I observed that 

 all the house sparrows in the neighbourhood retired for shelter to the 

 crevices of an old brick building; and it was very amusing to see them 

 peeping out every little while to ascertain if the storm was over. As it 

 is in the direction of this building that I have generally observed them to 

 fly with feathers and other materials, it seems probable that the sugges- 

 tion of the Editor, as to their constructing roosting nests, is correct. 



T. M. G. 



Edinburgh, February 21, 1834. 



MODE OF CATCHING SMALL, BIRDS. As the spring is now coming 

 on, and a great deal of interest has been excited with regard to our 

 summer warblers since the publication of Mr. Sweet, I wish to make 

 known to you a mode of catching them, which I have partially tried 

 myself with success. I procured a slender wand of about 18 inches in 

 length, and hung from it at different distances a number of nooses formed 

 of single horsehairs. I bored a hole in a tree, where I thought it likely 

 for birds to fly past, and inserted the wand into it, so as to present the 

 appearance of a natural branch, with the nooses hanging some distance 

 below. It was merely an experiment, for I could catch nothing but the 

 common brown wrens by the method recommended by Mr. Sweet, and 

 I was fortunate enough to capture first the lesser whitethroat, which is 

 a bird not very often seen from its habits of concealment ; it took a fly 

 from the hand the first day, and it learnt to eat bread and milk imme- 

 diately ; by throwing some flies into it I kept it in perfect health for 

 some time, until it eventually escaped. I afterwards set nooses in other 

 places, and caught a good many other commoner birds, especially on some 

 rails covered with thorns which crossed a brook, and were much fre- 

 quented by birds for the purposes of bathing. I caught even so large 

 birds as blackbirds and thrushes with single hairs, but they got entangled 

 in more than one noose, so that I cannot sav whether one hair alone 



