RECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



183 



"porch." and a " coTering" are inventions of 

 the fancy. The best figure of a robin's nest 

 I have met with is that in the second volume 

 of the Eev. E. O. Morris's " Nests and Eggs 

 of British Birds." It is a moderately neat 

 nest, not particularly finished or artistic, but 



about London ; for, as a genuine rustic, the 

 robin is not over particular, except as to 

 strength and safety. People who collect eggs 

 are a good while obtaining experience in dis- 

 tinguishing those of the robin, for they vary 

 in colour considerably. They are usually 



" Art tbou the bird whom man loves best, 

 The pious bird with the scarlet breast, 



Our litde English Eobin ?" 



W0BDS\T0RTH. 



compact, roomy, and always warm. The 

 mass of the structure consists of moss, dried 

 leaves, and bents ; and the lining is usually 

 of linen and wool. I have seen bits of cloth, 

 paper, and Berlin wool worked into nests 



freckled with yellow and brown on a white 

 ground, but are sometimes gray, with ferru- 

 ginous spots, and occasionally of the purest 

 white. 



The building of the nest is usually a slow 



