CHAFFINCH. 139 



at least fifty to one were females, which had apparently 

 arrived from more northern countries. Mr. Morris, too, 

 says that in Worcestershire the cocks formed flocks for 

 themselves. In this country, however, the separation of 

 the sexes seems only to apply to the migratory Chaf- 

 finches, for we usually see cock and hen together all 

 through the winter. 



The Chaffinch's nest is justly considered one of the 

 most perfect of all our small birds' nests, and Mr. Dixon 

 says that more time is taken to build it than any other 

 nest, save that of the long-tailed Titmouse. A fortnight 

 elapses before it is ready to receive its precious deposit, 

 and then the eggs, four or five in number, are laid, oval 

 in form, and of a dull bluish-green colour, spotted, and 

 sometimes streaked with dull red or brown. The nest, 

 walled in green, is decked also with gems of white ; if 

 no lichen can be procured, white paper is made to serve 

 as a substitute. An old apple-tree is a favourite spot, 

 and there I have seen the nest some four feet from the 

 ground, and exposed to every passer by the garden walk. 

 The hen only sits, and she is fed by the cock, who sits 

 close by to cheer her with his animating song. Speak- 

 ing of the nest of the Chaffinch, Mr. Hewitson says : 

 " No one whose heart is touched by the beauties of 

 nature can have examined that exquisite structure 

 without uttering some exclamation of wonder and de- 

 light, and without comparing it with all that is most 

 admirable in art and of man's invention." To which I 

 will add, kind Christians, postpone your investigations 

 until the young birds are reared and flown, nor break up 

 that sweet and happy home by taking their only trea- 

 sure from the patient architects and watchers who are 

 so often at your mercy. 



