42 Baby Birds at Home 



The nest is built in the fork of a small 

 tree, in orchards, woods, rough old hedge- 

 rows, on commons, and by streams. It is a 

 beautifully neat and compact little home. 

 The outside is made of moss, wool, lichens, 

 and cobwebs cleverly woven together, and 

 the inside is lined with feathers, hair, and 

 down. Occasionally the structure is decorated 

 on the outside with bits of paper. 



From four to six eggs are laid, of a pale 

 greenish blue colour tinged with faint 

 reddish brown, and streaked and spotted 

 with dark reddish brown. 



When you find the nest of a Chaffinch 

 the female hardly ever fails to scold you 

 severely if you disturb her. Her ringing 

 notes of protest sound something like 

 "pink, pink, pink!' 



Baby Chaffinches are not fed upon seeds, 

 but upon caterpillars and insects. They 

 consume great quantities of food, and in 

 consequence keep their parents hard at 

 work all day long long searching for it. 



They all resemble their mother in 

 plumage until they moult their first coat 

 of feathers in the autumn, when the males 

 become like their father. 



