172 BIRDS. 



when in trees is far more elaborate and better finished 

 than the heap of noisome rubbish that contents the birds 

 that nest in house-tops. On one occasion in Hampshire, I 

 found a nest with four young in the deserted " cage " of 

 a squirrel. 



^99^1 5 or 6, nearly i inch ; very variable, but generally 

 greyish white, with few or many brown spots, though I 

 had some in my collection without spots. The shape is 

 also subject to variation, and I have taken them of elon- 

 gated form like those of the swallow, or perfectly round 

 like some of the robin's. Two or three broods are reared. 



The sparrow is an interesting bird in spite of, perhaps 

 by reason of, its power for evil. Not the least difficulty 

 in the way of its repression is its remarkable indifi'er- 

 ence to extremes of temperature, and I have found it 

 equally impudent and pugnacious in the midday heat of 

 a Queensland October and the short grey dawn of a Baltic 

 Christmas. 



Common in the south of England, less so as we go 

 north, and unknown in the Orkneys and, according to 

 Tree- report, over the greater part of Ireland, the 



sparrow. Tree-Sparrow is distinguished from the more 

 familiar bird by the bars on the wings, the black patch on 

 the cheek, and the lighter hue of the legs and feet. The 

 nest of this bird is by no means found only in trees, for 

 it is also known to nest in the roof of thatched cottages, 

 and I have myself taken the eggs from nests in old 

 barns. It is more compact than that of the other, but 

 also consists of grass and feathers. Egys, 4 to 6, ^ 

 inch ; white, with brown sj^ots, and, in most clutches, 

 one with fewer spots than the rest, known as the " odd " 

 egg, and often infertile. Several broods are reared. 



The Chaffinch, considerable numbers of which cross 

 and recross the Channel, appears to breed throughout 

 these islands, save in the Shetlands. It is a most attrac- 



