Hedgerow Life 
even been known to use the sharp points 
of a barbed-wire fence on which to hang 
its prey; and no doubt thought, while 
it was doing so, that this useful form of 
spike was put there for its convenience. 
Its nest will not be far away, and 
looks somewhat like that of a blackbird, 
but lined with finer stuff; and the eggs 
are smaller, more pointed, and have a 
ring of darker spots all round the larger 
end. In its ways the bird is something 
like a small hawk, though it is not strong 
enough nor big enough to kill anything 
larger than quite a small bird, and seems 
to live chiefly on insects. It isn’t fast 
enough on the wing to catch things by 
flying after them, but pounces on them 
suddenly from some perch, where it sits 
on the watch for anything eatable to 
pass, and generally seizes the larger 
30 
