22 ANORTHURA TROGLODYTES. 



one of them with scarcely any, and another with a great num- 

 ber. Of three nests presented to me by Mr Weir, one is ex- 

 tremely beautiful, being composed entirely of fresh green 

 hypna, without any internal layer, although, no eggs having 

 been found in it, it possibly had not been completed. It is of 

 an oblong form, seven inches in length, and four in its transverse 

 diameter. The mouth measures an inch and eight-twelfths 

 across, one inch and a twelfth in height. Its lower part is 

 formed of small twigs of larch laid across and interwoven, so 

 as to present a firm pediment. The longitudinal diameter of 

 the interior is three inches and a half. Another, formed on a 

 decayed tuft of Aira crespitosa, is globular, six inches in 

 diameter, and compossed of moss, with a lining of hair and 

 feathers, chiefly of the domestic fowl. The third is globular, 

 and externally formed almost entirely of ferns, like that de- 

 scribed above. In all the nests of this species which I have 

 seen, the lower part of the mouth was composed of twigs of 

 trees, or stems of herbaceous plants, laid across, and kept to- 

 gether with moss and hair. 



The nests are found in a great variety of situations : — 

 very often in a recess overhung by a bank, sometimes in 

 a crevice among stones, in the hole of a wall, or of a 

 tree, among the thatch of a cottage or out-house, on the 

 loft of a shed or barn, the branch of a tree, whether grow- 

 ing along a wall or standing free, among ivy^ honeysuckle, 

 clematis, or other climbing plants. When the nest is on the 

 ground, its base is generally formed of leaves, twigs and 

 straws, and its exterior is often similar ; but when otherwise, 

 the outer surface is generally smooth, and chiefly composed of 

 moss. 



Several authors have spoken of the nests frequently con- 

 structed by this bird in spring, and afterwards abandoned, and 

 have indulged in various conjectures respecting them. I should 

 suppose that a nest may occasionally be partially or entirely 

 built, and then deserted because its owners find it unsafe, or 

 have been frightened from it. The Magpie often commences a 

 nest and leaves it unfinished, probably for the same reason ; and 

 the same remark may be made as to the Blackbird and Thrush. 



