188 HEDGE ACCENTOR. 



shrubbery. There it finds shelter during the 

 night, and thence it enlivens the early morning 

 with its pleasing but simple song ; and there it 

 finds a place for its rudely built nest, often 

 disturbed by the removal of the materials for 

 various purposes before its duties of incubation 

 have been accomplished. At the present time 

 this bird is scarcely seen far distant from the 

 vicinity of houses ; but before the period when 

 cultivation became so general, its breeding places 

 were low bushes on the skirts of a wood or com- 

 mon, a hedge or low evergreen, and there its nest 

 may still be occasionally discovered. The time of 

 breeding is very early, and the birds may be seen 

 evidently paired in the first week in February. 

 The eggs are deposited in March, and a second 

 brood is generally produced during the summer. 

 The nest is based with slender twigs and roots, 

 and is lined within with hair or grass. The eggs 

 from four to six, of a beautiful bluish green, are 

 always looked upon as a valued prize ; their deli- 

 cate beauty bring an additional attraction when 

 discovered ere many birds have commenced their 

 labours, and often when all is surrounded with 

 snow and hoar frost. When this earty prize is 

 attacked, considerable agitation is manifested, 

 and both parents flit around with shrill and often 

 reiterated complaints. The food during sum- 

 mer is insects and the smaller molusca. During 

 the winter, various seeds of grain and the provi- 

 sion of the poultry-yard, furnish it with support. 

 The range of this species seems confined to 



