SYLVIAD^. ly 



Another, a pied female, was killed about the same 

 time ; this bird had been known in Windsor Park to 

 have preserved the same variety of plumage for the 

 three years, 1864, 1865, and 1866. 



Mr. R. B. Sharpe has told me of a variety of the 

 Blackbird, which was shot at Cookham in 1864. It 

 was above the ordinary size, and had a ring of white 

 feathers completely encircling its neck. At the base of 

 the bill it had some more white feathers, which con- 

 trasted prettily with the jet black plumage. In January, 

 1868, a pied Blackbird was taken near Clewer. 



Family — SvLVlADiE. 



Hedge Accentor {Accentor modularis). Local 

 names, Hedge Sparrow, Hedge Warbler, Dunnock. 

 The plain, unobtrusive little Hedge Sparrow is ex- 

 ceedingly common, and breeds abundantly. I once 

 found a nest in a hole in a tree, but the most usual 

 site is in a thick hedge : often it builds in ivy- 

 covered trees and walls, generally near the ground. 

 The eggs never vary in colour, but are always pure 

 bright blue. A few years ago I discovered a nest 

 which was snugly placed on the seat of an arbour; 

 and I have heard of another instance in which the 

 parents fed their young in the presence of spectators, 

 when the nest was placed in a similar position. 



A pair of Hedge Sparrows, in whose nest a Cuckoo 

 had laid an tgg, as if to show that their neat little 



C 



