362 BRITISH IllTiDS' KESTS. 



Situation and Local it tj. — I have found tlie nest 

 of this bh'd in crevices and holes of rock, in the 

 gnarled roots of trees growing on the banks of 

 streams, amongst fern roots growing on the sides 

 of banks, in banks of rivers, amongst ivy growing 

 against walls and trees, in holes in brick and stone 

 walls, faggot and hay-stacks ; in the thatch of 

 barns ; amongst wreckage lodged in a thorn bush 

 by a high flood ; between the stems of tw^o trees 

 growing close together over a stream, and lodged 

 amongst a few slender twigs sprouting from the 

 trunk of a tree where a large branch had been 

 lopped off, and various other situations. The sub- 

 ject of one of our illustrations was found near the 

 top of a hedge, and the other amongst ivy growing 

 against a garden wall. Tlie nest has been found 

 in all sorts of odd places, such as in cabbages 

 run to seed, bodies of scarecrows, and the skeleton 

 of a Carrion Crow hanging against a wall. Generally 

 throughout the British Isles. 



Materials. — Moss, dead leaves, fern-fronds, roots, 

 dry grass-stalks, the stems of leaves, lined with 

 hair and feathers. I remember once iinding one 

 lined entirel}^ with the feathers of a hen grouse, 

 whose skeleton I discovered not far away. The 

 l)ird has a very shrewd idea about the value of 

 harmonisation and mimicr}*. The nest I mentioned 

 finding amongst fern roots was composed outside 

 of dead fern-fronds, and the one between the stems 

 of two trees growing close together over a brook, 

 of bright green moss, matching that u23on the trunk 

 on either side exactly. The one in the tW'igs 

 growing from the stem of a tree was composed 

 outside entirel}^ of dead leaves, and looked exactly 

 like an accidental collection. The bird practises 

 the curious habit of building the outer structure 



