7 6 British Birds ^ 



eggs are usually four or five in number, and remind 

 you of the Blackbird's eggs in their general appear- 

 ance ; but the blotchings or markings are redder, and 

 often much larger or more pronounced than in the 

 case of the Blackbird. Their eggs, too, vary generally 

 in size, even in the same nest. Out of the contents of 

 two nests I had brought to me a year or two since, no 

 two seemed to agree exactly in dimensions. — Fig. 12, 

 plate II. 



ROCK THRUSH-^(J/^;^/2V«/^ saxatilis). 

 Of most rare occurrence. 



FAMILY VII. SYLYIADiE. 



ALPINE k.Q>Q;^^l:QiK— {Accentor collaris ; formerly, 

 Alpinus). 



Met with two or three times in Britain. 



HEDGE ^VKK^QT^— {Accentor modularis). 



Hedge Warbler, Shuffle-wing, Dunnock, Hempie. — 

 I cannot call it Hedge Accentor, with all my respect 

 for Mr. Yarrell. It was Hedge Sparrow in my child- 

 hood and youth, and Hedge Sparrow to me it will be 

 called to the end of the chapter. I could no more 

 wantonly kill a Hedge Sparrow, in my sparrow- 

 killing days, than a Robin ; and now, when I hear his 

 low, sweet pipe, and see his wings quivered as he hops 

 on the ground, or from spray to spray, not knowing I 

 am noticing him, he seems as dear to me as ever. The 

 mossy nest, with its intermixture of fine roots and 



