So.^fE Remarkable N'ests axd Eggs. 6i 



as about ninety-nine out of every hundred birds 

 would do — namely, straight away. No, that would 

 give the arch-enemy in velveteen too good a 

 chance by half; therefore the crow slips over the 

 edge of its nest, darts straight down through the 

 branches like a plummet, and flies off with the 

 tree between it and its would-be assailant. 



Another species which builds a very deep cup- 

 shaped, open-topped nest is the Keed Warbler. The 

 bird attaches its little home to three or four reed 

 stems, and duriug the prevalence of strong winds 

 it is roughly swung and swayed in all directions 

 night and day. 



II. The builders iji eovered nests are tbe J)ipper, 

 Common Wren, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Wood 

 Wren, and Willow WaibkT, to say nothing of the 

 House Martin and Barn Swallow, both of which 

 build so as to have a covering touching, or very close 

 to, the tops of their homes. Every one of these birds 

 lays an a'^^^ with a white ground colour, two species 

 out of the eight have no markin<>-s whatever on 

 them, and the rest are spotted with red or reddish- 

 brown. 



The I)ip[)er"s nest is a most ingenious and ser- 

 viceable structure. I have seen it dripping water 

 splashed on to it by a roaring mountain torrent, 

 and almost washed awav 1)V part of the flood oozinu' 

 through the crevices of the rock upon which it was 

 resting, and yet the brooding bird within sat per- 

 fectly dry in her nest of leaves. The front of the 



