352 PARID.E. 



mixed witli a few pieces of grass, and lined witli the top of 

 the reed. It is generally placed in a tuft of coarse grass or 

 rushes near the ground, on the margin of the dikes, in the 

 fen ; sometimes fixed among the reeds that are broken down, 

 but never suspended between the stems." 



A few years since I obtained two nests from the parish of 

 Horsey. These were both placed near the ground, being 

 sustained only an inch or two above the surface by the 

 strength of the stems of the coarse grass upon which they 

 were fixed. Each nest was composed entirely of dried bents, 

 the finer ones forming the lining, and others increasing in 

 substance made up the exterior. The eggs are from four to 

 six in number, rather smaller than those of the Great Tit, 

 and less pointed, eight lines and a half long by six lines and 

 a half in breadth, white, and sparingly marked with pale red 

 lines or scratches. 



Their food during winter, Mr. Hoy says, " is principally 

 the seed of the reed ; and so intent are they in searching for 

 it, that he has taken them with a bird-limed twig attached to 

 the end of a fishing-rod. When alarmed by any sudden 

 noise, or the passing of a Hawk, they utter their shrill musi- 

 cal notes, and conceal themselves among the thick bottoms of 

 the reeds ; but soon resume their station, climbing the up- 

 right stems with the greatest facility. I have been enabled 

 to watch their motions when in search of insects, having, 

 when there has been a little wind stirring, been often within 

 a few feet of them, quite unnoticed, among the thick reeds." 

 In the same volume of the Magazine of Natural History, 

 Mr. Dykes says, " having lately had an opportunity of ex- 

 amining three specimens, I found the crops completely filled 

 with the Succinea amphibia in a perfect state, the shells 

 being unbroken. These shells were singularly closely packed 

 together ; the crop of one, which was not larger than a hazel 

 nut, containing twenty, and some of them of a good size ; 



