200 SYNOPSIS AND AEPHABETICAE INDEX 
resembles the robin in shape, dark liquid eye, and 
thin legs. Of gentle appearance and confiding nature. 
Has a soft pleasant twittering note. Found: Generally 
distributed. Frequents hedges (whence name), or- 
chards and gardens and farmyards, and sometimes (like 
the sparrow) is seen in gutters and roads feeding. Fond 
of the same locality. (The cuckoo often deposits an 
egg in its nest.) Habits: See above. Only two or 
three seen together, often only one. Hops quietly from 
bush to bush, or inside a hedge. Not shy. (Though 
tame, it is said to fight fiercely with others of its own 
species; compare robin.) Not migratory. Flight: 
Low, not quick, not prolonged. Length: 54 inches 
(about). Note: ‘Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, chirr— 
rr—tr,’ heard throughout the year. Something like 
that of the common (jinny) wren. Food: Insects, 
worms, larvae, grubs, and some grains. Plumage: 
Sombre, of a general brown colour. Back and wings ~ 
reddish-brown streaked with the same colour. Breast 
and under part of body buffy-white. Neck and throat 
bluish-grey. Bill: Delicate, dark brown, legs and 
toes dark brown. Maleandfemale: Muchalike, female 
slightly smaller. Nest: Generally early in April, even 
in March. Sztuated : Low (3 or 4 feet high) in hedges 
(hawthorn a favourite), but also in low shrubs, holes in 
walls, woodstacks, and ivy sometimes. Open, cup- 
shaped. Made of : Twigs, grass, and sometimes straw. 
