10 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



The instances we shall proceed to select will 

 shew how remarkably various are the situations 

 of nests, and, in some cases, how ludicrously they 

 are placed. Yet in all we have an exhibition of 

 constructive skill and ingenuity, which may well 

 excite our attentive consideration. It may be 

 true, as has been stated by Gilbert White, that 

 birds are generally wise in their choice of a situ- 

 ation ; but sometimes their wisdom appears more 

 than questionable. The tomtit is a conspicuous 

 example of this: this bird has been frequently 

 known to build its nest in the interior of an old 

 pump ; an anecdote is, in fact, told of one which 

 suffered its tail to be actually rubbed off by the 

 constant friction of the handle ! The same birds 

 have been known to build inside a garden flower- 

 pot, forgetting the difficulty their young ones 

 must have to experience in getting out of the 

 drain-hole, as the pot was inverted. Fortunately, 

 the pot was accidentally lifted, and the feathered 

 captives were set free. Audubon gives an instance 

 of a house-wren building its nest in an old hat. 



The following singular account is related by the 

 Rev. W. T. Bree. " A few years ago a pair of 

 robins took up their abode in the parish church of 



