THE INCUBATING FROG. 75 



At a short distance it is inaudible, but when heard 

 close, forms a very pleasing melody, especially when 

 listened to at early dawn, or towards the dusk of evening. 

 Though it forms no part of the vernal chorus, the true 

 lover of nature always hails it with delight, especially as it 

 is one of the first of the family to break the universal 

 silence which had prevailed during the dreary and mono- 

 tonous winter months. The song is frequently heard as 

 early as the middle of February, and towards the close of 

 the following month the happy pair proceed to prepare for 

 the business of incubation.' 



Thus, says Neville Wood, who states that this bird has 

 generally second, and sometimes third broods in a season, 

 which are, of course, better concealed than the first, owing 

 to the growth of the foliage, and thus the numbers of the 

 birds are kept up. Two or three instances of the Dunnock's 

 building in outhouses have fallen under the author's 

 observation. One of them was among bushes of various 

 kinds, which had been rooted up, and thrown into a corner 

 of the garden-house. In this instance the female had 

 hatched her young ; but, when they were about a week 

 old, the place was, contrary to orders, locked up from 

 Saturday evening to Monday morning, and the female being 

 excluded, of course the young brood perished. In another 

 instance, the nest was built on a bundle of pea-sticks in an 

 outbuilding, and the young were hatched and reared suc- 

 cessfully. Once the nest was fixed on the stone of a garden 

 roller, which had long been in a little-frequented spot 

 unused. But the funniest circumstance in the author's 

 experience of this bird was finding on its nest in a lavender 

 bush a fat and full-grown frog, gravely seated on the nest, 

 containing five Heclge-dunnock's eggs. The reptile kept its 

 place for some hours, as if it meant to hatch the eggs, and 

 was only turned off by main force. Probably disgusted at 

 such an intrusion, the parent birds never returned to their 

 charge. 



Insects of various kinds, larvae, and the seeds of different 

 grasses, constitute the food of this species. It does not eat 

 green food, nor fruit, and is therefore of unmixed benefit to 

 the gardener. Again, to quote Wood : 



