BIRDS. 91 



dominating the rapid shutter secured her portrait, 

 just as she peeped inquiringly inside the circular 

 leaden passage to her nest. 



Towards the end of last May I was shown a 

 great tit's nest built inside an old one, belonging 

 to a thrush, situated in an open hedgerow. It 

 contained a large family of recently-hatched young 

 ones, which were being assiduously fed by their 

 parents. 



Common wrens sometimes select odd quarters 

 for their nests, and do strange things in collecting 

 material wherewith to build them. 



I watched the building of the nest figuring on 

 page 89, and as the tiny structure was never lined 

 with feathers, I presume it belonged to a male 

 bird. The coil of rope was hanging up inside an 

 ancient and somewhat dilapidated hay-binding shed, 

 on the door-hinge of which a nest, very closely 

 resembling an accidental collection of old hay, was 

 ultimately built and used for breeding purposes. I 

 used to think that wrens were clever enough to 

 hide the whereabouts of their nests by building 

 them of such materials as harmonised with sur- 

 rounding objects, but a more extended experience 

 has shaken my faith in their wisdom. Whilst 

 the female was brooding on the nest mentioned 

 above, her mate amused himself by building three 

 " cocks' nests," two in the sides of a rick a few 

 yards away, and one in a neighbouring cart-shed. 

 One of those in the rick had all its outside made 



