HEDGE-SPARROW. 499 
wild rose and bramble heaped together in one confused mass are also very 
frequently selected. Less frequently we may find it in a heap of pea-sticks, 
or amongst the masses of ivy growing over a wall, or even on a tree-trunk, 
The nest is a handsome little structure, full of rustic beauty, composed of 
green moss, a dead leaf or two, a little dry grass, and strengthened with a 
few fine twigs ; moss usually forms the greater part of the nest; and it is 
lined with a, thick warm bed of hair, feathers, and wool. It is a curious 
fact .,.in the nests of this bird, when placed amongst thorns, a large 
thorn often penctrates the nest, the bird making no attempt to cover 
it. Dixon has the following note respecting its nest :—“I watched this 
season the fortunes of a nest of the Hedge-Sparrow, from the time the 
first few twigs were laid until it contained four eggs. The nest was only 
a couple of feet from the ground, in a tangled mass of wild rose and 
bramble, felted closely with withered leaves. From some cause, which 
baffled all my attempts to explain it, the nest was forsaken the day after 
the bird commenced to sit on her four eggs. Whether she had been killed 
or not I cannot say; but the eggs were never sat upon again. I left them 
in the nest, thinking that, after all, the bird might return; and I was in 
the habit of looking into it each day. I was rather surprised, about a 
week after the bird had forsaken it, to find the nest apparently empty ; 
and J then removed it, but was astonished to find the eggs still in the nest 
and a fresh lining built entirely over them. Whether this was an attempt 
to make a nest with little trouble by another pair of birds can only be 
conjectured ; andas I had pulled the nest from its position, I was prevented 
from seeing the finale to this interesting circumstance.’ Curious sites are 
sometimes chosen by this bird for its nest. Gray, in his ‘ Birds of the 
West of Scotland,’ mentions one which was built in a cave in the mass of 
rocks known as Ailsa Craig. It was placed in a ledge of the rock at the 
base of a tuft of hart’s-tongue fern; and the floor of the cave was covered 
with water. 
The eggs of the Hedge-Sparrow are from four to six in number, and 
differ very little in shape or colour. They are a beautiful greenish blue in 
colour, spotless and somewhat rough in texture—a character which will to 
some extent serve to distinguish them from eggs of the Redstart. They 
vary from °82 to ‘72 inch in length, and from ‘65 to 55 inch in breadth. 
The Hedge-Sparrow often rears three broods in the year. It is one of the 
earliest to breed, and also one of the latest; for fresh eggs may often be 
found late in July. 
The food of the Hedge-Sparrow is largely composed of insects and 
worms, which it obtains principally on the ground ; it also f eeds on small 
seeds of various kinds. Its flight is slow and somewhat uncertain, and is 
rarely prolonged for any distance. It is in the habit of jerking its wings, 
. F «a Eek » 
from which it has received the local name of “ Shufilewing. , 
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