o 



08 CERTHID^. 



than the laying of a few sticks across one another. It 

 is not every one who has at once the time, the inclina- 

 tion, and the steadiness of purpose to watch, from begin- 

 ning to end, the completion of a Wren's nest. To most 

 people, one or other of these qualifications is "wanting, 

 and to not a few all three. A friend of Mr. Macgil- 

 livray,* however, performed the task, and furnished him 

 with a most satisfactory detailed account of what passed 

 under his observation. The whole passage is too long to 

 quote, but it is well worthy of perusal not only for 

 the interesting information which it contains, but as a 

 specimen of the sort of note-making which satisfies the 

 observer and carries conviction of its truthfidness to the 

 reader. The nest was commenced at seven o'clock in the 

 morning of the 30th May, by the female bird's placing the 

 decayed leaf of a lime-tree in the cleft of a Spanish 

 juniper. The male took no part in the work, but regaled 

 his busy partner by singing to her all day long. At one 

 period of the day she brought in bundles of leaves four, 

 five, and even six times in the space of ten minutes. At 

 other times, when greater care was needed in the selection 

 of materials, she was sometimes absent for eight or ten 

 minutes, but such was her industry that at seven o'clock 

 the whole of the external workmanship was finished, the 

 materials being dry leaves, felted together with moss. On 

 the following day both birds joined in the work, beginning 

 as early as half-past three o'clock in the morning, the 

 materials being now moss and a few feathers. So the work 

 proceeded, day after day, until the 8th of June, when the 

 structure was completed, being a compact ball of dried 

 leaves felted with moss and thickly lined with finer moss , 

 and feathers, domed over and having a small circular open- 

 ing on one side. Dried leaves form the exterior of most 

 Wrens' nests, unless they are placed in situations where 

 such an appearance would attract the attention of a passer- 



* Macgillivray's " British Birds," vol, iii. p. 24. 



