A MEMEXTO OF HAIVAULT FOREST. 43 



who was uttering his cry, raising his crest, and seemingly in a state of great 

 agitation; when all of a sudden a splash, a sudden sinking and a cold sensation 

 of one leg, announced to me that I had put my foot in a pool. At the 

 same instant I heard a flutter, and on looking up perceived a bird flying oiF, 

 the Jays still uttering their harsh cry, I paid no attention to the bird, 

 thinking only of extricating and drying myself; but shortly afterwards advancing 

 a few paces in the direction the bird flew from, I perceived a half-plucked 

 Jay dead on the ground. I took it up and examined it, but perceived no 

 marks of violence about it except a blow on the back; I took two or three 

 of the small beautiful blue wing feathers with me and left it there. I roamed 

 about here for hours, sometimes listening to the everlasting ^^chink, chink" 

 of the Chaffinch, or else watching from behind a tree or bush the Long- 

 tailed or Blue Tits perform their interesting antics; while at others the shrill 

 cry of the Snipe made me look up, to notice the beautiful evolutions and 

 zig-zags that bird performs on rising. I found a great many Blackbirds and 

 Song Thrushes' nests; some with eggs, others with young ones, and some only 

 building. In a nest of the latter of these birds, a female bird sitting, allowed 

 me to come within a foot or so of her nest, and with her bill and neck 

 raised, and her glossy black eyes fixed on me, seemed as though she were 

 entreating me to spare her nest and eggs. Those pretty little fellows, the 

 Redstarts, were flying from twig to twig, shaking about their beautiful red 

 tails; while every now and then the cry of the Cuckoo or Woodpecker would 

 lead me to the place from whence the note came in search of them. 



On turning a corner, I saw a Crow feeding on the ground, which no sooner 

 perceived me than it flew away, and was presently joined by another, which 

 I saw fly from a tree a short distance from where I was standing. On 

 approaching the tree, and seeing a few twigs reaching over a large fork at the 

 top of it, I immediately concluded there was a nest there, and on climbing 

 to it, found a nest with four eggs still warm. Only two of these eggs were 

 alike; they were of a greenish bluish ground, flaked, particularly at the larger 

 end, with large patches of blackish brown colour; the other two were in colour 

 like a Jackdaw's, only they were not so glossy, and were larger. Wanting a 

 specimen of a Crow's egg and nest, I took them. The nest, which was very 

 large, was composed on the outside of dried roots and twigs, while the inside, 

 which was also A^ery large, was lined with grass, hair, tow, etc., and between 

 the outside and inside, a layer of mud was placed. 



The evening approaching, I walked to Chigwell Row, and having refreshed 

 myself at a wayside Inn, walked back to Romford, a distance of about five 

 miles, and about half-past eight was again in London, after having spent 

 a very pleasant day. I have been informed a coach starts from Gracechurch 

 Street to the May Pole, Chigwell Row, and vice versa every day, but I have 

 never been by it, nor do I know the time of its departure or arrival. I 

 scarcely met a single soul in the forest, with the exception of now and then 

 a few bird-nesting boys, and one or two persons, who, no doubt like myself. 



