4 MOUNTAIN FINCH 



eggs were hatched. His aviary is a large one, enclosing 

 a considerable space of ground, and is surrounded with ivy, 

 and planted inside with shrubs. If birds are to be kept in 

 confinement at all, some such place is the only one in which 

 they should be confined. The nest having been completed 

 four days, the first egg was laid on the i6th of June in the 

 above-named year, and another was laid each day till the 

 2ist, when they were removed. The nest was composed 

 of moss, wool, and dry grass, and lined with hair; and 

 these materials were selected from a variety which the birds 

 had the option of making use of. The foundations, which 

 were large, were worked -in among the stalks of the ivy 

 leaves. 



" In the latter part of July, in the same year," says 

 Mr. Dash wood, writing to Mr. Hewitson, "another pair of 

 Bramblings built, placing their nest on the ground, close 

 to a shrub or a tuft of grass. The outside of the nest was 

 made of moss, and it was lined with hair. From this 

 nest I removed four eggs on the ist of August ; on the 

 1 7th of June 1840 they laid again, having built in the 

 ivy. This nest I did not disturb, but, although the 

 eggs were hatched, they did not succeed in rearing the 

 young ones." 



In the "Account of the Birds found in Norfolk," the 

 authors mention the following instance, or rather instances, 

 of these birds nesting in confinement, communicated to 

 them by a gentleman residing near Norwich. A pair of 

 Bramblings built a nest in an aviary in the last week in 

 the month of June 1842, and two eggs were laid, both 

 of which were removed and found to be good. In June 

 1843 the same birds again nested, and the female laid 

 two eggs, and these having been removed, they formed 



