46 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



the cottage door, or on the moist earth amidst the 

 gooseberry-bushes, picking up its imperceptible 

 food, and, when alarmed by some disturbance, it 

 flies but a little way, soon returning to its homely 

 feast. Rarely, in its most reckless outburst, w'ill 

 it aspire much higher than the gate-post; or, if it 

 ascends to the lower branches of a tree, there to 

 pour out its little love-song, it almost immediately 

 drops down to the hedge where its mate is moving, 

 mouse-like, as though quite surprised at its own 

 audacity. Never, in my experience, has a Hedge- 

 sparrow ascended to the topmost bough of any tree 

 whose height could be deemed at all considerable. 

 Many of the older writers regard the Hedge- 

 sparrow's nest as the one most commonly selected 

 by the Cuckoo for the foisting of her egg. So far 

 as my knowledge goes, the Meadow-pipit ^ is far 

 more frequently forced to become the foster-parent 

 of this monstrous charge. Still, the Cuckoo's egg 

 is constantly found in the Hedge-sparrow's nest, 

 and the little brown birds may be seen in active 

 attendance on their abnormal nestling. The rear- 

 ing of a young Cuckoo is a severe strain upon these 

 small warblers, and they appear to grow thin and 

 worn when engaged in their inappropriate labour, 

 even although they escape the fate attributed to 

 them by King Lear : 



" The Hedge-sparrow fed the Cuckoo so long, 

 That it had its head bit off by its young."' 



1 Mr. G. W. Murdoch, the naturalist Editor of the Yorkshire 

 Weekly Post^ to whom I am indebted for the revision of these 

 pages, has, however, records extending over forty years, and 

 these show a great preponderance for the Hedge-sparrow. 



