122 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



extraordinary as it may appear, were found to 

 number no less than 2379. They belonged chiefly 

 to the Pheasant, Wood Pigeon, Rook, and Partridge ; 

 but there were also feathers of the breast of the 

 Missel Thrush, of the Yellow Bunting, and several 

 other birds. 



Mr. Weir, who once had an opportunity of seeing 

 a pair of these birds commence their nest in an old 

 ash tree, and watched them until they had finished 

 it, found that its construction occupied twelve days. 

 Both male and female laboured at it in turns ; and, 

 "to give the materials the requisite solidity, they 

 pressed them down with their breasts and the 

 shoulders of their wings." . 



Selby, in his Illustrations of British Ornithology, 

 states (vol. i. p. 242) that "a small hole is left on 

 two opposite sides of the nest, not only for ingress and 

 egress, but also to prevent the bird, during incuba- 

 tion, from being incommoded by its long tail, which 

 then projects through one of the orifices." If this 

 statement was based on personal observation, the 

 nest described must either have been an abnormal 

 one, or a second hole may have been accidentally 

 made in taking it from the branch to which it was 





