WREN 105 



forsaken nest will sometimes be again returned to. Thus 

 several nests of the same year are often found near together, 

 the work of one and the same pair of birds ; and other nests, 

 in the making of which both birds assist, are not very un- 

 frequently put together in the autumn, and in these the birds 

 shelter themselves in the winter, possibly as being of the 

 newest, and therefore the best, construction, and made too 

 late in the year for a further brood : these nests seldom, if 

 ever, contain any feathers. The young are said to return to 

 lodge in the nest for some time after being fledged. 



The eggs are usually from six to eight in number, but 

 generally not more than eight, though as many as a dozen, 

 or even fourteen, have been found, of a white colour, sprinkled 

 all over with small spots of dark red, which are most nume- 

 rous at the obtuse end ; some are quite white : the shell is 

 very thin and polished. 



VOL. n. o 



