NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



round fowl-houses and sinks, diligently 

 picking up the very tiniest particles of 

 food that other birds either do not see or 

 consider beneath their attention. When 

 disturbed it timidly retires beneath some 

 bush or hedge, and waits until all is 

 quiet, when it comes forth again with 

 a gentleness and modesty that win it a 

 great deal of sympathy during hard 

 weather. 



It breeds early, and hides its nest, as 

 carefully as circumstances will permit, in 

 evergreens and thick hedgerows. Al- 

 though such a common species, it has one 

 habit which is not often mentioned in 

 books. When laying it frequently covers 

 over its eggs with part of the lining of the 

 nest before leaving them. 

 . On one occasion I photographed a 

 Dunnock sitting on her nest in a bramble 

 bush, and wishing for a different view of 

 her returned the following morning in 

 order to secure it. When I approached 

 the place I observed the bird sitting at 

 home, but in endeavouring to get close 

 to her with my apparatus I frightened her 

 off. Pathetically enough, upon looking 

 into the structure, I discovered that the 

 bird had been sitting inside an absolutely 

 empty home. 



96 



