BRAMBLING. 205 



again attempt to breed in his aviary tUl 1862, wlien a 

 pair built one nest and laid four eggs, two of wbicb are 

 now in the museum collection; and in 1863 and 1864, 

 the same birds paired as before, and with a like result ; 

 in the latter season, however, young birds were hatched 

 for the first time, though subsequently found to have 

 been thrown from the nest, either by their parents or 

 some other bird. In June, 1861, a pair of my own 

 showed evident symptoms of having paired off, and as 

 the cock bird exhibited a very jealous disposition, I 

 removed the young couple to a breeding mew, by 

 themselves, giving them an ordinary nest-box and 

 building materials. The hen bird began nesting at 

 once, but made slow progress at first, almost invariably 

 pulling out with her feet the moss or wool she had 

 carefully arranged with her beak. As the wooden 

 sides of the box seemed rather to incommode her, 

 I filled it up with part of a chafiinch's nest, and 

 by the 23rd she had completed her own, on this founda- 

 tion, composed of moss, wool, and grasses. The male 

 bird did not assist, but was exceedingly amorous and 

 attentive, and both indulged frequently and freely in a 

 bath. At this stage of proceedings the hen bird, 

 unfortunately, was taken ill, and no eggs were laid, 

 though she seldom quitted the nest except for food. On 

 the 30th, to my great surprise, I found the whole struc- 

 ture pulled to pieces, and from that time all advances on 

 the part of her mate were violently repelled by the hen 

 bird. On July 2nd, a second nest was built on the old 

 foundation, and the hen remained sitting at times, but 

 eventually she abandoned it, when I turned them off 

 again into my aviary, and though the same pair survived 

 for two seasons after, they did not again evince any 

 inclination to breed. 



The beak in this species, as in many others, varies 

 in colour at different seasons, being blue black in 



