106 IN AN OLD DESERTED GARDEN— 
So the division is made neatly all round the 
middle of the egg, and just where it ought to 
be! The mother bird may assist, too, in 
the operation when she perceives the egg 
moving, and the point of the beak showing 
through the first hole. But the shells jo: 
birds’ eggs are not always so evenly divided 
in hatching. 
Then we started to explore. The bull- 
finch, we thought, and the hedge-sparrow 
must be surely building here. Our surmise 
was correct. As we approached a deodora 
tree, a hen bullfinch flew out of its lower 
branches, and there we found her nest, with 
four pale blue eggs, speckled and streaked 
with purple at the larger end. One had 
probably yet to be laid, as five is the usual 
number ; and out of these would peck their 
way, in due time, a handsome family. Truly 
bullfinches are beautiful. The deep black 
of the head and tail, the rich red breast 
(some describe it as brick red), are beautifully 
contrasted with the delicately grey-shaded 
beak, whilst the black and grey wing is re- 
