SYLVIADjE, 19 



With regard to the Red-breast building in odd 

 nooks and corners, the following cases have come 

 under my notice. When at Brighton, in April 1867, 

 I was told by Mr. Pratt, of Ship Street, that he knew 

 of a pair of Robins then building their nest in an old 

 Wellington boot, which had been thrown aside by the 

 owner. They had not quite finished the nest when 

 I left Brighton, and I never heard whether they laid 

 any eggs. At Mr. Swaysland's shop on the New Pier, 

 at Brighton, I saw the nest of a Robin, which had 

 been built in a cracked earthenware jar. 



During the summer of 1866, a person told me that 

 he had found a young Cuckoo in a Robin's nest, in an 

 ivy-covered oak at Charlton, in Kent ; when the young 

 monster was about a week old it threw from the nest 

 the poor little Robins, who were killed by their fall to 

 the ground, and the usurper appropriated the whole 

 nest to himself Such instances, however, have 

 occurred and have been recorded before. I found a 

 nest several years since built in a watering-can, which 

 had been accidentally left in the garden; and about 

 nine years ago, in Surrey, I observed one which was 

 placed between some pieces of matting and a bundle 

 of sticks against a brick wall. I have frequently found 

 the nest in a faggot stack, which is no uncommon 

 site, and have known cases in which a flower-pot has 

 been chosen. I once discovered a nest under an old 

 garden roller ; and I have lately been informed that a 

 pair of Robins built their nest in a tattered hat, which 



C 2 



