GOLDCREST 107 



closely assimilates in colour to the branch to which it is 

 fixed. In a fir it is mostly composed of moss, and, in a 

 thorn tree, of lichens. It is sometimes placed near the 

 top of the tree, and in other instances only two or three 

 feet from the ground. These birds have been known to 

 steal the materials from the nests of Chaffinches to make 

 their own ; one was noticed to do so most slily, watching 

 its opportunity, but on the Chaffinch detecting and chasing 

 it, it did not repeat the theft. The nest is frequently lined 

 with feathers, and is altogether a singularly elegant piece 

 of architecture ; the feathers are so placed as to project 

 inward. Two nests have been found on one branch. Mr. 

 Hewitson says : "It is sometimes placed upon the upper surface 

 of the branch ; and I have also seen it, but rarely, placed 

 against the trunk of the tree upon the base of a diverging 

 branch, and at an elevation of from twelve to twenty feet 

 above the ground." He also mentions, in the Zoologist, 

 his having once met with the nest in a low juniper bush, 

 very little more than a foot from the ground. Mr. James 

 Croome writes of one he found in the stump of a thorn 

 bush about four feet from the ground, and another in a 

 bush a few feet from the hedge at a height of about six 

 feet. Deserted nests of this species are frequently to be 

 met with, but the reason is not known. 



The eggs are four, five, six, or seven, to eight, or even 

 ten or eleven in number ; they are of a very pale reddish 

 or brownish white, the larger end being darker coloured ; 

 some have been known pure white, sparingly spotted with 

 reddish brown here and there. They are smaller than those 

 of any other British bird, and are sometimes almost of a 

 globular shape. The young are fed by both the parents. 

 Two broods are reared in the year, and the second is less 



