20 THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



was stuck up in a garden near Woolwich, and though 

 the hat used to swing about in the wind the parent 

 birds did not appear to mind it. A similar instance 

 has come to my knowledge where a nest was built in 

 the coat of a 'scare-crow.' In the summer of 1862, 

 while walking along a shady lane near Berkhamp- 

 stead, I saw a Redbreast fly out of a hole in the 

 bank. On looking for and finding the nest, what was 

 my surprise to discover in it four pure white eggs, 

 which had a lovely pink hue before being blown, but 

 which they have since lost. White varieties are pro- 

 bably not often met with, but Mr. T. E. Gunn, of Nor- 

 wich, has informed me that they are not uncommon 

 in Norfolk. The nest in question was built in a low 

 bank over a small stream of water, and this is an 

 instance in which the theory of Mr. Harvie Brown may 

 hold good, namely, that all eggs are lighter in colour 

 when laid in a damp situation. This observation has 

 been confirmed by an acquaintance who found a nest 

 with white eggs in a damp ditch near Eton Wick 

 in 1864. 



One cold November night in 1856, a Robin entered 

 a house in Slough and remained until the following 

 spring, when it left, and was never seen again. This 

 bird was exceedingly tame ; it roosted upon the top 

 of a bedstead, ate up the crumbs on the table, flew 

 upon the tenant's shoulder, and in fact was as tame as 

 a bird could be. 



The food varies considerably : Meyer gives a long 



