A BIRDLOVER'S YEAR 



neatest of avine architects. The outside 

 of its nest is a thick affair of grasses, moss 

 and twigs, whilst the inside is lined with a 

 plaster of mud and clay, the nest being 

 moulded into a cup shape by the hen bird 

 moving round and round inside. The black- 

 bird builds a very similar nest externally, 

 with a different lining, and the chaffinch 

 weaves into her compact little nest scraps 

 of green moss and lichen, " felting " the 

 materials together and lining the inside 

 with hair and feathers. The linnet and the 

 white-throat build cup-shaped nests of dry 

 grasses, twigs and moss, whilst the gold- 

 finch has a beautifully woven little cradle 

 of fine roots and grasses neatly lined with 

 feathers, down and horsehair. The long- 

 tailed tit rivals the song thrush as an 

 architect, and his exquisite little home takes 

 a long while to make. It is an oval ball of 

 moss, wool and lichens, felted together with 

 a covering of flakes of lichens, cobwebs and 

 gossamer. The inside is simply a mass of 

 feathers, which these little birds have col- 

 lected. 



Turning to the dipper we find a totally 

 different class of nest ; a great ball of moss 



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