MEMORANDA RESPECTING THE NIDIFICATION, &C. 249 



adapt the materials of which they constitute their nest to the nature 

 of the locality which they have selected : thus the wrens of the 

 grotto formed their dwelling of moss, lichens, and sticks, in assimi- 

 lation with the interior of the building. It is a further remarkable 

 fact that these birds indulge in a plurality of nests ; this singular 

 circumstance was pointed out to me by a valuable friend and 

 ax^curate observer, who also directed my attention to no less than 

 four of these pseudo-abodes in close neighbourhood with that 

 which I have already described. Whether these numerous little 

 edifices are designed to baffle the enemy, like the shields of the 

 Salic,* or whether the birds, fastidious as to the site of their 

 residence, commence several before they are satisfied, is a point 

 of some difficulty to determine. Wrens frequently build in 

 very whimsical situations; at Sandford Park I saw a nest which 

 was made in an old stocking nailed against a wall in the 

 gardener's house, for the purpose of holding his " shreds ;" and 

 the little denizens, having availed themselves of the finery, had 

 decorated their nest with gay patches of cloth, red, grey, green, 

 and blue. This fantastic and extraordinary dwelling only 

 evinced the admirable instinct of the birds in choosing materials 

 for their habitation so well suited to answer their end of con- 

 cealment. 



Another pair of the same active little creatures located them- 

 selves in a straw hurdle, used for protecting some valuable young 

 poultry, and in this situation their nest was, exteriorly, covered 

 with loose straw and matting. A locality, perhaps, still more 

 remarkable than the preceding, was a favourite parterre in the 

 garden at this place (the Chantry), in the centre of which two 

 wrens fixed their nest, within six inches of the ground, in the 

 middle of a wall-flower, entirely hidden by the dehris of the 

 garden refuse, which might, naturally, be supposed to have there 

 accumulated by accident. 



Fearful of intruding too much on the attention of the reader, 

 I will terminate for the present, although the temptation to 

 prove excursive is rather formidable where such favourite studies 

 are concerned. At a future period I may be encouraged to 

 gather from my note-books some desultory extracts, illustrative 

 of Ornithology and Geology, in the former of which I may 

 confess myself an enthusiast, admitting, in the words of the poet, 



" It wins my admiration — 

 To behold the structure of that little work, 

 A bird's-nest ! mark it well, within, without. 

 No tool had he who wrought, no knife to cut, 

 No nail to fix, no chisel to insert, 

 No glue to jom ! his little beak was all. 

 And yet how neatly finished I" 

 The Chantry. C. L. E. P. 



visitor of the Rev. Mr. Owen, of Fulham, and the late exemplary and excelleat 

 Bishop of London, Dr. Beilby Porteous. 

 * Query, the Twelve Priests of Mars ? or the Nation of Germany ? 



