166 PAPERS, ETC. 
portion of bark, though sometimes it may be found 
in a hole of a tree, which in this case generally has a 
very small aperture. 
TROGLODYTES. 
66.—Troglodytes vulgaris. — Wren. 
How, in anest, the neatness and beauty of which every one 
has admired, composed of moss and lined with the 
softest feathers, provided with an entrance not large 
enough to admit two fingers, and which contains from 
seven to eleven young ones, the parent can dis- 
tinguish among so many claimants for food, to which 
the turn of favor belongs, is indeed wonderful. The 
old bird seldom enters the nest with her provision, 
merely clinging to its side; a dozen heads are instantly 
at the aperture, each greedy as may be ; how she dis- 
tinguishes between those already fed, and those 
requiring food, has always appeared to me a great 
mystery. The eggs are 7% lines by 6 lines, white or 
slightly speckled with pale red. 
SITTA. 
67.—Sitta Europea.— Nuthatch. 
The situation chosen by this bird for its nest, is some hole 
in the tree, usually one with a large entrance, which 
it ingeniously plasters with mud till the hole is but 
large enough to admit its diminutive self. The eggs 
greatly resemble those of the greater titmouse, in 
length 9 lines by 7 lines, white with a few pale red 
spots. 
OUCULIDAE. CUCULUS. 
68.— Cuculus canorus.— Cuckoo. 
Eggs of this bird have now been found in nests of hedge- 
sparrows, robin, redstart, wagtail, whitethroat, the 
warblers, meadow titlark, rock pipit, skylark, yellow- 
